Saturday 25 February

Craig woke me @ about 3:30am. It was weird not having the dogs jump around and carry on like they usually do.

We hit the road @ 4:15am. It was quite an overcast day. Perfect for driving. Not much traffic no teh road - mostly trucks heading to Wellington.

At 5:30am I was hungry - so ate two pieces of left over pizza! My WW buddies would have been horrified! LOL

We stopped @ Taihape for real coffee - fantastic BP Wildbean Cafe there! Stopped @ Waiouru for toilet stop then carried on to Tokoroa for late breakfast around 9:30am. I was bloody starving by then! Had pancakes - they were the lightest pancakes I've ever had! DEVINE. I was also feeling particularly piggy and had two hashbrowns also *grin* - great start to the holiday.

We got to Hahei Beach @ 1:15pm - 9 hours later. It's usually a good 8hr drive + stops. So we did ok. It's brilliant leaving so early in them orning - its not so hot travelling plus we are all set up camp and relaxing in the head of the afternoon. There is a method to our madness.

Being a weekend there is quite a few people here already - smostly from AKL and Tauranga - plus tonnes of campervans - mostly European tourists. Mixture of age groups this year - mostly young familise - preschool children and a few retired couples. We got our "sacred tent site" - its out usual site we like and manage to get year after year - sometimes its hit and miss because you cant actually book.

I got a bit sunburnt putting the tent up. My shoulders havent seen the sun in years and I was wearing a singlet top!!!! I've very excited about my beach attire this year - shorts, singlet tops, SWIMMING TOGS and sarong! OMG!

By 4:00pm we were all set up and it was nice to pull up a chair and enjoy a nice cold coke - coke Zero - primo! I also had a powerade - very thirst quenching but incredibly high in sugar. I read the label - scarey when you do shit like that - once bottle contains 12 teaspoons of sugar!!!!!!

It was 26C when we arrived!

After drinks it was showertime - so refreshing!! and then it was dinnertime! WOOHOOO YIPPEEE FOOOOOOOOOOOD (again). Lambsteaks, fresh colesslaw, sausage, mashed spuds + kumara - omg it was deliciious - food always tastes better when away camping.



Hit the hay around 9:30pm.