Day 22- let us not even discuss the weather anymore. a storm front is a storm front, be it from the north or south, and here it brings lots of rain and lots and lots of wind.
Today we drove to see the Kai Iwi Lakes, noted for the fact that they are only fed by rainwater. Looks like a nice place to play in the lake, as there are very strict rules of what areas and how fast you can go in your motorcraft...no running over people like in Utah, hey sis? It is likely more impressive in the summer, but today was to dank to appreciate fully. There is a campround at one end of the largest lake that supposedly holds 500 campers. Looks like it must be just a huge free-for-all, as there are no marked sites, only grass. Best part is this: the boat launch that we found is all the way at the other end of this lake. So, you'd have to drop your boat and a driver and then drive like mad to the campsite and hope you got a spot... otherwise, you'd both be driving back and forth wondering what the heck was going on. AH, Keyto, you sneaky devil, I know what you are thinking, 'why not just use your cell phone to advise the situation?'... if only there was service in the area.
Anyway, more backroad exploring found a B&B for sale, and 2 beaches
that were pretty remote. One village looked like hippie central, but had no views of the ocean. Once in Dargaville, we met an eager realtor who decided we must see 2 of her properties (both with lake views). they sounded ok, so we agreed: one with a spring-fed pond and 5 bedrooms, 2 paddocks, swimming pool, solar heating... the other with many windows, gardens, 4 bedrooms, and a jetty. We piled into her car and away we went.
The first was on a decent enough piece of land - just off the main road, and at a level that obscured the view of traffic from the road... the pond -appperently spring fed, looked like it could be nice enough if cleaned up. The paddocks were very mushy, so couldn't really get a good look, but they're pretty standard aren't they? Once inside the house, the horror set in... If only i hadn't taken my shoes off as a courtesy to the homeowner - now my socks were going to be very dirty... does no one in NZ own a vacuum or broom?? Anyway, I digress... The house was finished almost entirely in plywood except for the open timber beams holding up the second storey. Oy! Is that a kitchen?! There are only 2 cupboards! The house boasted one very frightening bathroom (sis, you would have fainted). ...clearly no building inspection or permits are issued, nor are any codes enforced, so appears you can build whatever you want here - and these people did! Up the staircase to the second floor (no railing, so the realtor braced herself on the walls going up, and we braced ourselves in case she lost footing...) You'd expect to find a bedroom or sitting room up here, as this was the 'view' room... not so, it was just an unfinished room with a bit of junk strewn about... and the windows were small! ignoring the obvious peril, we quickly headed back to the main floor, through the living room (wonderful pink ceiling, guys) to the bedroom addition... down a few narrow stairs to gaze upon more unfinished rooms of differing sizes and shapes (some walls didn't even go to the ceiling). At the end of the hall was the 'crowning glory', the master bedroom. Woohoo! they had used drywall in here - too bad no one bothered to finish the job in any fashion. also, someone had been honing their artist skills on the walls. from this window, we got our first glimpse of the swimming pool. oh my! I'm pretty sure that something HAD died in there recently (where was the goat that should have been in the paddock and what was that chicken staring at?). i couldn't get out of there fast enough; The realtor just had one more thing to show us - the laundry room. knowing that it couldn't get worse, we followed her... it did... we suppose you could take your laundry there, but at home, we call this 'outside' and 'a rusty washtub'. guaranteed that putting your clothes in that sink would NOT make them cleaner. perhaps you just pour petrol on them, set them alight and head to town to buy new... i wonder if the dear realtor noticed me sprinting to the car... oh, and about the solar power...it ran 2 lights in the kitchen when the other power went off. on to the next property!
This one was also right beside the highway, but had nothing to obscure the traffic. instead, it had been landscaped with 3 gardens in the front yard, with 3 different themes: Mediterranean, English, and Canadian. Even while the realtor chirped on and on about the 3rd garden being made just for us, I could see that J was unimpressed. there was a carport at the front of the house, right in front of the door, so we had to negotiate around the parked car and then courteously remove our shoes outside on the mat. the front entrance was cramped, but it had 3 doors and a flight of stairs. I could hardly wait to see what was behind door #2! but i would have to wait. the realtor led us up to the 2nd floor. The house was being painted so the walls were 2 different colours (did u know that u can just paint the wallpaper to spruce the place up?). Obviously, they didn't have a ladder to reach some higher areas. There was a bright living room, with a good view of the lake. the kitchen was a good size with an adjoining laundry room and storage. there was a large amount of cat and dog food on the floor - no worries, my socks were already dirty... so far, so good.... down the hall and things got UGLY. the main bathroom was just dreadful, and the 'ensuite' bathroom was worse. had someone been dumpster diving at the local plumber's shop, or how did they get such mismatched fixtures?? the toilets were both running... the bedrooms were small (not unusual) but had nice patio doors opening on to the deck. Funny thing, though... there were no windows to speak of at the back of the house... AHA! there was no backyard, as the site was a steep hill. Finally, it was time to discover the basement! door # 1 was the garage - we didn't look at that. door # 3 was under stair storage...boring. oooooh! the ANTICIPATION!!! finally a turn of the key! Yikes! let's go back...why did i have to ask to see this? what is the matter with me? this was a cinder block foundation with rooms that made me think 'oh, so this is what it's like to be in prison'. now I can see why Paris was so reluctant to stay there... Anyway, there was a large room that these folks were in the process of turning into a B&B suite. It was complete with another 'ensuite' bath. If you've never seen the downunder idea of what a shower should look like, imagine a room with a showerhead on the wall, a drain in the floor, no curtain... This particular shower had one extra. it was a 'Les Nessman style' (remember him from WKRP? - he had tape on the floor to show where his office walls would have been) they had been kind enough to run a very small bead of red caulking (?) on the floor to show us where the shower base would be if there had been one. the bedroom itself was very large and sunny, with 2 sets of patio doors. too bad the view for the future guests would be that of their car... (remember the carport?) the owners had photographed the room with a lovely wicker patio set just outside the opened patio doors so, presumably, as a guest you would have the added bonus of being able to sit on the blacktop, sip wine and enjoy the 'new car smell' of the Corolla. I guess you would be encouraged to use the gardens... Outside we were shown the rest of the site... many paths had been created to go up and down the hill. there was even a small sleepout for one to have quiet time or use to watch tv without interruption. the property also included 'one smelly cat...what are they feeding you???' much to the disappointment of the realtor, we declined putting in an offer on either place. Maybe further down the road would be a better selection?
We spent the evening at Matakohe near the water. it was raining and windy all night ...but tomorrow the weather person says a high will arrive, and with it, the sun!
If you ever have the chance, try to watch the tv show 'Man Stroke Woman' -it's British. You may need to watch a couple of episodes to 'get it', but really funny- if you like that kind of thing.
realize how much time has passed...) I will start by picking up some of the missed events over the past few years. (This post is mainly to remind myself how to make this work and the new functions that are now provided.) 
realize how much time has passed...) I will start by picking up some of the missed events over the past few years. (This post is mainly to remind myself how to make this work and the new functions that are now provided.) 
