February 24

Waiheke to Hutt City

A day of travelling, commencing with a morning walking the streets of Oneroa. I packed my bags and left them with Tania, who promised to run me to the ferry.

Sunny again	Not many people but lots of dogs

The beach was reasonably busy with people, dogs and a few swimmers. The waves rolled in and all was peaceful - except for the electric plane at the building site that I commented about a couple of days ago. It is a lovely place, although the absence of things like reticulated water and sewerage must make life a little difficult. Most of the bathrooms that I visited implored people to be careful with water and not to stick anything too nasty into the septic tanks.

I walked back through the village, examined most of the shops and had a fruit juice. This was probably the worst thing to do as it left me thirsty.

Tania had suggested a visit to the art gallery and museum. The gallery was in between exhibitions but did have some lovely stuff, mainly at lovely prices! There were beautiful glass sculptures at about $15,000 and too large to fit into my house.

The music museum only opened in the afternoon so I returned to the village for a very sweet iced tea in a perfect spot overlooking the beach. It was beginning to cloud over but it was still a beautiful view.

Still feeling thirsty, I found another bar with excellent views and had a low alcohol beer mixed with citrus. They even do a no alcohol version. This kept me occupied until it was time to return to the studio, collect my bags and accept the lift to the ferry which Tania had promised me.
A view down the main street ...	... with a beer to accompany it

We said our farewells at the ferry - what a charming couple they are - and I waited a few minutes until boarding.

I had allowed 30 minutes more than necessary to reach the airport and instantly lost ten of them because the ferry went via Devenport and not direct.  We sailed along, passing a paddle boarder en route. Is it safe on one of those so far out in the harbour?
	A lovely day for a voyage
A lost paddleboarder?	We called in at Devonport

When we reached Auckland we spent an age, or so it seemed, berthing so that I lost another ten minutes. The indicator at the bus stop indicated that the bus no longer stopped there and that I would have to cross to the other side of the busy road.

A bus had just arrived so I climbed aboard and we trundled through heavy traffic to the airport, eventually arriving ten minutes early.

The area of the terminal reserved for local flights small and, as usual, very busy. We boarded late and then sat on the runway so took off about 25 minutes late. The waitress said it was because of roadworks on the runway in preparation for the arrival of the A380s.

The flight was completely uneventful, except for the presence of a guide dog. He slept on the floor at his Mother's feet and seemed happy enough.

We landed, my bag arrived and the only two taxis filled up and departed. Being so much later than planned, I decided that the bus couldn't be too far away so I walked a couple of hundred metres to the bus stop where I only had six minutes to wait. It arrived on time, took me to the station, which also arrived on time, and took me into Wellington.

The bus came round the corner ...	... and took me to the train to Wellington

I made a quick transfer to a train up the Hutt Valley, which took me safely to Wingate. From there, it was a ten minute walk along the wildly exciting Hutt Road to Sue and Steve's. Once there, I settled into food, wine and letting the washing machine do its thing.