Beautiful Blue Dome Day in Gisborne

Needing to top up with fresh water and empty both grey and black water tanks, we opted to stay in a commercial camping ground with access to power.

Our choice was the Poverty Bay A&P Association Showgrounds. When we arrived I asked Alan why he chose to park right out in the middle of nowhere – slap bang (almost!) in the middle of the field, when the other (few) campers had parked under the trees.

Turns out the next morning we were in the sun looooong before they were as the trees not only acted as shelter break, but also a sun block.

Confidence Building Bike Ride

I have to say we had a bit of a discussion around the sanity of riding on grass as a way to build confidence. Alan believed (still does!) that I need more practice stopping and starting on my bike. I believe (still do!) I just need to do it my way and not his.

I bit the bullet and clocked up a slow 880m at the grand speed of 8.5kph.

Ride into Town for Lunch

One of the things we both envisioned doing on our holiday was hopping on our bikes and riding from our campsite into town (or wherever) for lunch. Because of the weather, we hadn’t managed to do much of that so far.

After driving into town to get bike locks, we parked up at Awapuni Beach carpark then rode into Gisborne City where we had lunch at the Flagship Eatery.

It wasn’t far, maybe 8.5km return.

After such a strenuous ride – not! – we both decided that a real fruit icecream would finish the afternoon off just nicely.

The Village Berry is well worth a visit. More than just an icrecream parlour, it’s a bit like a Farmer’s Market shop. I think both of us would happily return. The icecreams were huge!

Catching up with Rellies in Gisborne

One thing Alan is exceptional at, is maintaining relationships. This means that at every opportunity (pretty much!) he wants to visit people when we’re out of town.

So that’s what we did. Then we were invited to dinner after Mass. Which we accepted.

I don’t like arriving empty handed – although I know it wouldn’t have mattered in this case – I was pleased there was still some fresh fruit left over from yesterday I could take with us.

Genevieve cooked pesto pasta, we contributed fresh fruit, Genevieve added mini Magnums.

Stopped After Mass

As we were walking back to Genevieve’s after Mass, the dad (presumably) of a family stopped and chatted with us. He said he’d noticed us earlier in our cycling gear, and getting in and out of our motorhome. He wanted to know if we were visiting relatives.

We had a really interesting chat with someone called Peter.

I was pleased I’d packed a shawl, because I used it to “dress-up” a plain top and shorts. I felt a bit more dressed right to go to church – even if I was recognised from the back as that woman in cycling gear from earlier!

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Here’s to bike rides into town for lunch…

Here’s to being prepared for mass…

Here’s to keeping in touch with relatives.

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Here’s to SmilingOnTheInside!