Wanganui

I took the 6:50 AM Super Shuttle to the airport and arrived around 7:30. Very early for my 9:45 flight that boards at 9:30. lol. You can never be too sure, right?

Dana recommended I go to Best Ugly Bagel inside the domestic terminal, and it did not disappoint. Supposedly, I should’ve been able to use my Priority Pass for some freebies, but the machine didn’t accept my card? Interesting. Oh well, I was still going to purchase my bagel and coffee, hehe.

I checked in for the flight and was sure my bag would meet the maximum 7kg requirement… I had packed less than before, and it was all in the Cotopaxi bag, with plenty of room to spare! Surely it wouldn’t weigh very much, right? Wrong. It clocked in at 9.9kg… dang it! Haha. And it was a bit too wide to fit in the overhead bins. So I checked it.

When I got on the plane and saw just how tiny the overhead bins really were, I knew there was no way that bag was ever fitting. I’m surprised the “sample” bin at check-in was as big as it was because I saw rollaboards fitting in, but I doubt they could’ve really fit inside the cabin, haha.

The flight from Auckland to Wanganui was about an hour, and it was quite cloudy. Although, I did get to see some mountain peaks, which I can only assume belong to the National Park. This plane, a Saab 340, was officially the smallest commercial plane I have ever been on! Hehe. So cute!

After we landed and were taxiing to the terminal (no gate here, just walk out onto the tarmac, hehe), I saw Dana and Hayden waiting! And they even waved, and I caught it on camera! Haha. And they got a video of me! 🤗.

We take the long drive (a whopping 6 minutes) to Dana and Hayden’s house. It’s such a cute town! And their house is even cuter! It was surreal seeing it in person as opposed to via video chat and pictures.

We then took a quick trip to town for lunch and some errands, and we walked down the main avenue of town. Very picturesque art-deco buildings and a quaint small town feel for sure. The sushi place we had lunch at was a serve yourself, and the owner was so kind and cheerful. He gave us free mini spring rolls as my welcome to Wanganui. I love this place! Hehe

Back at the Smith homestead, we sat outside and planned a bit of our travels for my visit. Now, I’ve left all of this in their hands, as I trust them to know the best of the best, and with similar interests, I have no doubt whatever we do is going to be absolutely incredible! Hehe. But, I’m curious, so I ask what the plans are. Hayden cryptically asks me if I really want to know or to leave some of it a surprise? Of course, I want to know, but I do love the idea of not knowing every detail. So that’s where we left it. Haha. I did find out, however, we will be visiting some sort of famous McDonalds? … I know I know… McDonalds?! … I’ve been promised it’s worth the visit… and now I’m REALLY interested and want to google it, but I won’t. Lol.

Soon, it was time for Dana and Hayden to get ready for a wedding later that evening. And I would have the house to myself! WOW! Hehe. I planned to be productive but only managed about 45 minutes of busy work before I turned on Netflix, hehe. It’s time for bed and a new adventure tomorrow! 🙂

Sunday started with a lovely and relaxing breakfast at Hayden’s parent’s house. They set up the outdoor tables in the garden, and we enjoyed good conversation and the beauty of the flowers and bird song as we ate together. I heard the infamous “Tui” bird for the first time! I was able to spot him, too, but with the gorgeous sun casting shadows, he just looked to be all black. But in reality, the Tui has amazing blue hues on his front. Gorgeous!

After breakfast, Dana and Hayden took me to Virgina Lake, which has a lovely trail all around. This happened to be the place Hayden proposed to Dana! Awwww, hehe. We saw tons of birds and ducks, all anxiously awaiting the humans to pass by and offer up the toll of some bread crumbs or whatever other tasty morsel one is willing to part with. We saw another distinct bird, the pukeko, and was amazed by the colors, but after seeing a few more up close, I was slightly frightened by them. They’re feet are huge and spindly and remind me of what a bird-dinosaur’s feet would look like. 😅🤣

As if the birds and ducks around the small lake weren’t enough, we walked over to the small but mighty aviary in the park. Here, we got to see many smaller parakeets and some larger guinea fowl. One of the little parakeets was a lovely blue color! Amazing!

Once we finished taking in the beautiful colors of the birds, we hopped back into the car for some ice cream! But this wasn’t just any ice cream. It was berry ice cream, made with fresh, and just picked berries from the berry farm! They scoop some ice cream and put it into a big machine, then take a scoop of fresh berries, and the machine mashes it all together and then spits out a soft-serve look-a-like into a cone and voilà! You have freshly made berry ice cream. Boysenberry is a big deal around here, so naturally, I was recommended to try it. It did not disappoint, hehe.

On our way back, we stopped by the Kai Iwi beach! And guess what? It’s a black sand beach! Hehe. It was beautiful! And we saw some cliff-side houses that should be million dollar homes, but apparently, the cliff is eroding and the houses are no longer worth the investment and the liability if you know, the cliff with the houses happens to break off and plummet into the water. Hmmm… haha. Luxury or disaster?

We got back to the house with plenty of the afternoon left, so I went on my first run! It felt great, but it was hot out there. I suppose I know better than to run in the heat of the day. Lol. Hey, at least I went, right? Hehe

When I got back, we started a new tv show, “Ghosts,” cute, pretty stupid, but funny. We only made it a couple of episodes before we were ready for bed.

Dana has Monday’s off, so after a first round of coffee and my morning run, we head into town, and while she is getting her monthly massage, I relax at a beautiful cafe and read my book. Afterward, Dana swings around to pick me up so we can head over to the “Waimarie,” and historic paddle steamer, famous in Wanganui. We’re going to do a 2 hour cruise up and down the river! This will be awesome!

“Waimarie” means good fortune in the Māori language… and we’re beginning the trip with good fortune, so that must mean it’s going to be an epic trip! 🤗. It’s possible that this paddle steamer is the only one on this side of the world. It’s unique because it’s completely steam-powered, and it utilizes paddles as opposed to rudders. On the boat, there was a saloon that was the most picturesque little space, and my mind immediately started imagining it filled with people dressed for the 1920s. I wonder what this boat was like in its heyday…

We also learned back that when the boat was used as a mode of transportation, and not just for tourist cruises, carrier pigeons were used to send messages to and from different ports along the river. And guess what? The Waimarie had its very own carrier pigeon on board: Baxter! Dana and I were given the opportunity to write a message that would be sent back to the Waimarie docking station and museum. So cool! We were told the pigeon will always go back, but they don’t always make it into the coop, where the messages can be received. So we had a good chance of seeing our message, but it was no guarantee.

After cruising for exactly 2 hours, the Waimarie aligns with the dock at 1:00 PM sharp, and we excitedly scurry off and head into the museum to see if Baxter brought back our messages He did! How cool is that! Haha.

We head over to a local restaurant to grab a drink and a light snack. It’s a cute place called Mud Ducks and lies in the art sector of Wanganui. Right next to the bathrooms was a Makuna honey vending machine! Haha what? Never seen that before! My other strange vending machine sighting was one completely filled with sparkling wine in a hotel in Denver. Now I feel like I’ll have to keep my eye out for the weird and unique vending machines around the world, hehe.

Dana shows me around the art district, where all the buildings are old and in the art-deco style. It makes for a very lovely stroll, and we find ourselves heading into the glass blowing studio, where they were actually blowing glass! It was really fun to watch for a moment or two. Many of the pieces in there were thousands of dollars, so we were sure to keep our arms and hands tucked in tightly as to avoid any accidental purchases, lol.

We pick up Hayden from work and head back to the abode, and Hayden prepares a lovely dinner for us. We watched a few more episodes of our now favorite show, Ghosts, but we decided to head out to a “night market” while it is still very much light outside. 🤣. We walk in, and at first look, there isn’t much going on at all. A few food trucks, but that’s about it. We were hoping for some yummy dessert, but Dana and I opted for a beer instead.

We picked a little beer truck and started asking the guy what his favorites are. He tells us his favorite isn’t here at all! Lol. Womp womp. But he lets us try each of the 3 beers he has on tap, and he pours generously. By the time we’re done “tasting,” we’ve likely already had an entire beer, lol. We make our selections and try to pay, but it turns out, since this market is attached to a larger event called the Masters Games, and in order to purchase anything at all, you first needed to purchase a card and upload money on the card, and THIS is what you pay with. No cash, no credit cards, only this extra card for the event. What? Haha

We were surprised and saw no signage explaining you needed this in order to purchase within the market. Strange. We were wrapping our heads around how to accomplish this, and the beer guy asks if we’re planning to buy anything else while we’re here, more food, beer, etc. And we say no, we just wanted to come and check out the place, have “dessert” and go home. So, he let us have the beer for free! Woohooo! Haha. Best beer ever!

On the way home, I learned speed bumps are called “jutter-bars,” because when you go over them, they “jutter” you, lol. I suppose it makes sense, but it also sounds made up to me 🤪.

Tuesday morning on my run, I seemingly tripped over nothing and skinned up both my knees. Whoops! 🤣. I also apparently broke the brand new sunglasses I had just purchased the day before. What is going on? lol. I keep joking that my friend Heather is with me in spirit because this is the sort of thing that would happen to her. 🤪 Hehe. Anyway, I kept on running and made it back without any other issues.

After Dana finished working, we FaceTimed the other part of our trio, Kelsea, and we chatted the afternoon away. Usually, it’s Kelsea and I together, but this time, I got to be on screen with Dana!

When Hayden came home from work, we went over to the big tower in town to get a Birds Eye view of Wanganui and to hopefully see the mountain! Ruapehu! We climbed the many stairs to the top and were greeted with beautiful views! The river Dana and I had taken the river cruise on was a totally different color. It boasted a greenish blue hue as opposed to the quite muddy brown we saw just a couple of days before. We also were just able to make out the mountain, shrouded in clouds and mystery.

We had one more stop in the national park: a gorgeous viewpoint looking out over a river valley. What a beautiful spot for a picnic!

Now, back to the house to pack for the road trip! 🙂