Retirement Trip - things start to go pear shaped

Week commencing 16 March - the last week of normality.  The news wasn't making for great reading and we tried to carry on with our trip without letting it spoil it too much, but lurking in the background was that nagging doubt.  We drove the Thermal Loop, visiting a couple of ski resorts, saw Mount Doom, rode a cable car lift, watched a live volcano puffing .

We visited the Thermal park at Waiotapu, made a quick stop in Rotarua - not impressed, continuing along the coast to overnight in Ohope on the Bay of Plenty.  Questions were asked about our arrival in the country, people were now being asked to quarantine.  

From there we headed along the coastal road 35, watching the infamous White Island out at sea throwing out its plumes of steam into the air

19 March - first communication from Trailfinders regarding the fact that we might want to go home

20 March - TF start looking for flights

21 March - time difference was proving to be a problem with getting hold of each other - they'd call in the middle of the night when we were asleep, then leave messages, but then we couldn't call them back

22 March - no flights to be had, advised to contact the British Consulate.  Felt completely abandoned. We decided at this point to give up the camper van, campsites were closing or not letting you use their facilities.  Wifi was very poor and it was stressing me out not being able to get a reliable connection

23 March - Auckland - We visited the British Consulate which was awful, lots of people crammed into a small office, no one taking charge, waited around 30 minutes then someone came out and basically told us there was nothing they could do at that point and to go away!! We took back the camper along with practically everyone else, it was chaos and quiet upsetting.  I managed to get online whilst awaiting a taxi into Auckland and got us booked into a hotel for two nights.  It had a kitchenette and washing/drying facilities so we thought that might do.  On arrival we were offered a package to extend our stay if we needed which was comforting.  The receptionist took us to a small supermarket where we got some provisions then went and found a restaurant for a last meal.  Everywhere was closing down in preparation for lockdown

24 March - Visit the British Consulate again - IT's CLOSED - lots of very cross/worried/scared people.  We did manage to talk our way into the lobby where we were able to register our email/phone number and basically await and prepare for an unknown duration in lockdown.

Time for an update

Good morning, I'm finally back to update my blog.  The time goes by so fast and I am in awe of the people that still blog everyday. I'm sure a daily post from me would be terribly boring.

My last post was the 31 May, where did June go?  Well actually it went in France.  Yes, we managed to get over to France on 7 June by means of a letter from our daughter and attestations which the French border control were happy to acknowledge. Which was a bit of a relief - that "do you know the border is closed" was a tense moment.  We arrived back home on Friday 3 July and now have to quarantine for 14 days but it was worth it.  So what did we do?

Spent time with the boys, which was one of the main reasons for going.  Childcare and home schooling whilst Beck and Tim started to make ready the Chateau to reopen. Though President Macron declared that all children were to go back to school for the last two weeks of term, which meant that we ended up with time to play in the garden and work on the gite.  Luckily the weather improved as our first two weeks were rainy and not really conducive with working outside.  We did however get out for some walks and a couple of bike rides.

 A brief visit to the Donjon in Ballon, which is just in the next village to the Chateau.  Luck was not with us though because as soon as we arrived the heavens opened and we spent 15 minutes hiding under the trees, in the end we just gave up and wandered around in the wet, shoes were soaked through!  Other than that we didn't venture far, a trip to the garden centre, a quick foray to the supermarket and an after school trip the the lake at Sille plage with dinner out.  

The French are taking this whole lockdown easing a lot more grown up than the UK.  No queuing to get in the supermarkets, just sensible spacing, masks where necessary, and life is going on as normal but with no kissing!! Yes, there aren't as many people about, but the French have a different concept of going out - no booze fuelled binges, just a nice meal with wine, much more civilised.  I sometimes feel ashamed to be British and truly wonder what other countries think to the pub/booze mentality - it remains to be seen which of the countries is the first to spike after easing.

The Chateau has some new residents in the shape of three kittens, see the collage below - two boys and a girl - Brian, Steve (Etienne) and Fred (Frederica) - needless to say a lot of time was wasted on these three

There were lots of raspberries to pick, in fact each day we collected, open froze and then bagged ready to make jam at a later date or to add to puddings.

We are now home for a rest and as I said to quarantine for a while, which is frustrating, but there is work to do on the garden and knitting and crochet to keep me busy.  I need to find a new hairdresser as mine has decided not to reopen, which is a real shame.  I have kind of got used to my hair being longer, Peter prefers it, though I find the flopping in my face a trial, but a few hair slides help.  I will get it trimmed and see where I go from there.  I'm guessing it will be a while before I can get an appointment at some place new. I wonder how many other businesses will feel the need of a change.  

During lockdown Rebecca has decided to start writing a book - her Instagram and Facebook followers have been on at her for sometime to write so she has decided to do just that.  To enable her to do this she has set up a Patreon page, in the hope of a little financial help.  It seems this is the way that vloggers/writers/artists go these days, so if you feel you'd like to know more or can help please take a look at her page - thank you

There you have it, June, there would be more photos but this new version of Blogger has lots of issues, one being that I can't actually see the photos only the ref number, so I have to go to my phone, check the ref then add the photo, crazy

Enjoy your extra freedoms whilst you can, wear a mask, wash your hands, stay safe.  I for one have no desire to rush out to the shops.  Until the next time xx