I can’t remember the last time

view through windscreen - Whitikahu Road, Gordonton, Waikato - showing thick fog with deciduous winter trees devoid of leaves

The sun is always shining above the fog

Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate that, above the fog, the sun always shines.

Yesterday we woke to reasonably thick fog in the Wonderful Waikato – we had no idea what time it lifted and when the sun started shining at home.

Because we were on a road tripping adventure!

When Alan and I start a road trip, we like to play a little game when our journey begins in the rain or fog. Where will we be when the rain stops…? when the fog lifts…? In which part of Godzone will that happen…?

Which one of us will be the closest …? Will get it right…?

Yesterday we were both out by a country mile – the fog just kept getting thicker and thicker. So dense that we couldn’t see the tops of the trees … nor fence lines we knew were just 100m away.

Pauanui

I can’t remember the last time we were in Pauanui – a seaside holiday location on the Coromandel Coastline of New Zealand’s North Island. Maybe seven…? more…? years’ ago. Certainly a very long time.

From home, it’s about a 90 minute drive over the Kopu-Hikuai Road. This stretch of SHW25 is bendy and hilly. You do not want to be caught driving this road leading into a long weekend or holiday season like Christmas or Easter. You’ll spend hours crawling behind boats being towed to their Pauanui holiday homes.

In January 2023 a large landslide destroyed a section of this part of State Highway 25, effectively closing the road. A bridge had to be built across the landslide, and the highway reopened in December 2023. It was one of the fastest-re-built roads in NZTAs history!

Yesterday, we went to have lunch with a special friend we get to spend time with only rarely because their main residence is in Central Otago.

Like My Hero, Aviation is his thing… I had Plan B lined up in case our conversation started talking in that foreign language of which I’m only able to stutter my way through – if I dared to speak out-loud – for fear of showing my total ignorance!

Plan B Not Required

Plan B was to climb “Pauanui Mountain” – the Summit Walk – approximately 2.5km out and back… or rather, up and down. Apparently, it takes about 90 minutes to complete.

Back in the day – when we used to visit Pauanui often – back in our ZK-DOK days when it was just a hop, skip and jump over the Coromandel ranges – I only ever walked to the entrance of the Summit Walkway – never the entire route.

Yesterday, however, we only spoke in Motorhome – a language both Alan and I are becoming more fluent in so Plan B wasn’t required.

Because we were working to a pretty time timetable, going for my walk in Pauanui wasn’t a-happening thing.

**Added to My Must-Visit List**

I’ve started a mental list – which probably needs to be committed to paper and ink because of its length – of Must Visit Places after we take delivery of our very own motorhome.

I’m planning on the Pauanaui Summit Walk being one of our very first adventures. And the Pauanui-Taurua Cycle Trail will be added to that list too. #smilingontheinside