13/3/2026 Bon Voyage

This morning I booked a Bolt to take me into the city to meet up with Carey and Ray for breakfast before they left on their cruise. 

The driver was very chatty and obviously the main topic of conversation was the storm closely followed by his solutions to the landslides and coastal flooding where they get hit constantly. I did struggle to understand all of what he was saying just because he was an Indian Fijjian and he was speaking really fast. 

The drive to the city was really nice, a lovely sunny morning, blue skies and fluffy white clouds which was nice after the overcast weekend. When I arrived at the port the ship was tied up alongside all ready for the passengers to board. Carey and Ray have a three hour window to get on from midday there so we had plenty of time.

As we pulled in, the driver was directed right down to the other side of where I needed to go, down to the very end of the pier and back up. They thought I was a boarding passenger I think and directed him down to drop me off. Obviously I was not a passenger, I just wanted to get onto the  Wharfside Bar and Eatery and have my breakfast. It took a while to get back up to the place I was meeting Carey and Ray due to the volume of traffic dropping off. Finally I got there and went in. They had been there a few minutes so I wasn't too late. Their bags were stacked in the corner of the restaurant and the eatery was right next to where the ship was parked. It blocked out all the light and is bloody massive! I had to take a photo of one of the mooring lines, they looked like oversized bungee straps. Most looked ok but one was looking particularly frayed. It is certainly going to give quite the twang should it break. I wasn't the only one who'd noticed it  because Carey had too, she related a story of when her dad, Jim was in the Navy and whilst at sea, one of the anchor ropes had snapped and caught one of the unsuspecting sailors across the legs causing some pretty horrific injuries. On a more positive note their cabin is on the opposite side of the ship to the dodgy looking bungee strap so there are likely to be no incidents. They are also at the back of the ship so furthest away from icebergs. Tidy. 

Our breakfast was delicious. Apart from the school grill error I made with the bread choice, toasted sour dough always shreds the gums and since it's been a while since I've had any, I'd temporarily forgotten that little detail. Idiot. The scrambled eggs were nice though. I had taken my rucksack with me because I knew in advance that I would be bringing bags of food home with me. Carey and Ray aren't allowed to take their own food onto the ship so rather than waste it, they gave it to Morg and I. Included was a punnet of red kiwis which are delicious, a punnet of feijoas and 5 scrumped apples from one of their accommodations on their trip, loads of salad stuff, meats, cheeses, biscuits, and freeze dried mashed potato. I managed to get it all in the one rucksack but oh my god it was heavy! I'm looking forward to trying the feijoas as I've never tried them before. They were also scrumped from the same place as the apples so literally straight from the tree. 

As always the time flew by and several coffees later it was time for them to hop on board and start the next part of their trip, via Tahiti, Hawaii San Francisco and ending in Vancouver. I went with them as far as I could and took their photos beside the huge ship. 

Once I couldn't see them anymore I went up into the city to see if I could do some shopping. I had accumulated a little bag full of treasures in the islands but at some point during one of the many accommodation changes they got lost, and I have no idea at all where they could be. Also missing in action is my pink bandana which I am particularly upset about as it's been around the word with Si and I. There are three possibilities. 1. They blew out from one of the numerous bags from the back of the Morgs truck. He was taking my bags the night before I had to check out to save me having to carry them around for hours before I could check in.  2. They ended up in one of the charity shop donations which is unlikely because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have even accidentally put them in to recycle so I need to go and ask if they can remember them.. The 3rd is that they ended up in the rubbish bin, which again I can't imagine doing but is highly possible given the amount of sorting out I've done. I have messaged the lady in the bed and breakfast to see if i left them there by any chance but i’ve not had a reply from her. The last time I can remember seeing them was Si’s birthday because I wore one of the flowers in my hair when we went out. 

I do remember taking them out of the large plastic drinking bottle I put them in when I was at the lodge but cant  for the life of me remember what particular stay that was. It's bloody annoying wherever they are because they were really pretty and unusual little things for my treasures box. 

My thinking was to replace the little Island treasures with stuff from New Zealand but it was all a bit naff ans totally commercialised. I realised my lava rock and shells are irreplaceable and after hiking around 4 gift shops I boshed the whole expedition on the head. Seriously pissed off. To add insult to injury it also had started to rain. Really bloody hard. I had my dungarees on and flip flops but no coat so instead of gift shopping I ended up with a purple waterproof jacket. Purple because there was no pink and purple because as you know it's Si’s favourite colour. It even has a toggle hood hurrah for that. It's nice and lightweight as it's not remotely cold and folds up really small. It was a bit depressing to be honest,  Autumn has definitely arrived, and I'm missing the sunshine. I put the oat on straight away, and went to have another coffee. No little coffee shops in the City, just the big chains but you have to take what you can get in these circumstances and I ended up in Starbucks. 

As the Starbucks was less than a minute from the bus stop I decided to get the bus back to Kohimarama instead of booking a bolt. Saved myself $14 there and was home at exactly the same time. The only difference being the bus dropped off on the main road next to the beach where the bolt would have taken me to the door. 

Even though it was raining I got off the bus and sat on the bench and spent half an hour just watching the waves, feeling the wind and the rain on my face.

Although thanks to my new coat I didn't get that wet. There was a staffy dog bounding down the beach with its owner. It was in and out of the waves until it found half a tree washed up on the beach. Predictably it picked it up by one end and bounded down the beach with it. When its owner caught up with it she took it off him and threw it in the ocean for him to retrieve. He bounced in after it and managed to drag it out, before tearing off down the beach with it again. It was going swimmingly until the one end  of the branch stuck in the sand like a javelin pole and the dog neglected to let go and went flying over the top of it.. Had there been a bar there it would have cleared a metre no problem at all. I couldn't stop laughing at the poor thing, obviously a tad too loud because his owner looked in my direction, and she was howling with laughter as well. The stupid dog still hadn't let go of the branch and was looking around as if to say WTF just happened there. Its owner couldn't move for laughing and the dog just looked at her with a really hurt expression on its face. 

Once the dog had let go of his branch they moved off down the beach and I walked home. It's been a funny few days, pretty up and down and I've been feeling distinctly abandoned by Si. A few little signs appeared today, in the wharf the goo goo dolls were playing which is a pretty significant song for us. A waft of his aftershave going up an empty escalator, and finally the strongest and most definite one of all was a car.  With the index number JAG676. I've had signs on vehicles from him before. Once on my first drive down to his mums, a car overtook me with the index number  S63 DAF which is si’s birthday and the name of the dog. Thank you very much babes.  So seeing his collar number on the front of a VW whilst making me cry, also made me feel a little bit better. 

I’d been back in the unit half hour and Morg rang to see if I needed anything, obviously I was still ok for food so he came on down. 

Amazingly, I had remembered to take out the bolognaise to defrost before I left this morning so it was just a matter of throwing it in the microwave and heating it up. I made up the dehydrated mash as well and because it only needed to have boiling water added it was nice and quick. Within five minutes we had a hot meal and were nice and full. Bloody marvelous. I chopped up some of the fruit as well for dessert and we had it with some cheese. 

Once we’d eaten Morg and I discussed my plans for when I get home and the best way to execute them. There is quite a lot that will need outsourcing but hopefully I will be able to manage the lot before Frank arrives. Nothing like putting a load of pressure on myself. 

When Morg left I had a nice long shower and did more Bee stuff …. There is more stuff in the basket. Oops.

Much Love

Mrs Leonard

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