http://www.motat.org.nz/whats-on/current-exhibitions
Entry to MOTAT was free for the month of June which was a bonus. It is on two sites connected by a tram so we took the tram to the aircraft display site. Although not of great interest to me it was a very impressive exhibition with many aircraft and the children were quite interested in it. Nigel was much more interested and after we had had a look around I suggested that he spent more time there whilst we went back to the main site. We arranged to rendezvous at the cafe at 2pm. Back at the main site there was lots of interest for Danni and Jonny and we had a good look round before going to the cafe for a snack and meeting Nigel. Nigel was a bit late as he had decided to walk back from the aircraft exhibtion which turned out to be further than he had thought.
After lunch we split up again to have a further look round before leaving at 3.15. We dropped Jonny off at home and were back here by 5pm. Rob came in after work and had a meal with us.
Next morning we were booked on the 10am ride at Warkworth where Danni had arranged to meet up with Keri and Sonya with who she would then return to Auckland. They were booked for a 2 hour ride but I just went for the first hour. I had a change of mount this time, I rode Flicka a skewbald, who turned out to be a good ride. I was a bit disconcerted when we had our first canter as her head went down and I thought she may put in a buck but I was told that that was just the way she goes! Back in the paddock Danni had some good jumps on Lenora before we got back to the stables and she changed horses for her second hour. I said good bye to them and came back home.
We had a party of 7 young men staying in the house who had asked Jill if they could play loud music and we had agreed that it would be OK. Thankfully I never heard anything although Nigel did but not enough to be a problem.They hadn't arrived until late on Friday night, after we had gone to bed, and didn't get up till well past midday on Saturday. It seemed that they were up until the early hours again on Sunday and were late risers again. Jill had been a bit concerned about letting the house to them but they did a good job of tidying up and took away all their rubbish so there were no problems.
On Monday I stripped the beds and washed the bedding and in the afternoon Pam came in to give the house a "deep" clean. I have kept up with tidying it up after the guests had left but felt it was time that a "professional" gave it a clean!
It started to rain heavily on Monday night and I lay in bed listening to the rain on the roof - a sound that I love to hear. From time to time I could hear the birds that nest under the eaves shifting and "grumbling" about the rain! The rain carried on throughout the night and Tuesday morning with the occasional clap of thunder and strong winds. Then suddenly the rain stopped, the wind died down and the sun came out and we had a beautiful afternoon.
The tour de France started on Sunday and I am able, with the use of a proxy server, to watch ITV4's highlights programme. Over the last few years I have become an avid follower of the tour and would have been upset to miss it. So, every morning, I now watch the previous days stages.
On Wednesday afternoon we made a trip to the cinema to watch another French film Cafe de Flore. One review says "A love story between a man and woman. And between a mother and her son. A mystical and fantastical odyssey on love." It was indeed mystical as when it finished we still were not sure of the story line if indeed there was one. Never the less we had both thoroughly enjoyed the film.
Thursday morning was foggy and chilly and never really warmed up all day with some rain in the afternoon.
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