So the next morning, at exactly 8 AM, Kate's alarm goes off. We'd set it so that we could call the sky-diving company and try to make a booking for that day. But, of course, it was raining - and didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon. Now, maybe it's possible to skydive in the rain ... but who would want to?? So instead, we all rolled over (figuratively, of course - there was NOT room enough in that van for anyone to actually roll) and went back to sleep.
About 10, we tried again to wake up. And this time managed, if only because we had to check out of the campsite before 11 or risk getting charged for an extra day. Time for a strategy session. Everything we'd planned for the Bay of Islands was pretty weather dependent, so we could either wait around and hope things cleared up, or move on. We decided to head towards the Cape, the northernmost point in New Zealand, in the hopes that maybe the storm was moving south. So after a breakfast of bread and peanut butter, and a quick stop at the grocery store for provisions for dinner that night, we were off!
We stopped at a couple of beaches on the way, which are supposed to be gorgeous in good weather, and had a coffee break in a nice little seaside town. Lydia suggested we head to Kaitaia, a town at the base of the 90 Mile Beach, for dinner. An old camp friend of hers was from there, and his parents have a restaurant there. Although she'd only met them once, when her friend found out she'd be traveling the north island, he suggested she look them up.
When we arrived, Lydia thought she recognized the owners immediately, but a bout of shyness kept her from saying anything until after our meal. Finally, though, she worked up her courage - and thank goodness she did! Lee and Dave invited us to stay the night with them, and Lee said she'd take the next day, Friday, off and take us up to the Cape herself!
After we wandered around the town for a bit, Lee was ready head out and we followed her out to her house. It was quite the drive, if only because Lee is a bit of a speeder, and our poor van has trouble topping 80 kph. Fortunately, we made it to her nice house outside of town, maybe a minute or two from the nearest beach. (Not that it was even kind of beach weather.)
Lee made us all dinner while we relaxed a bit with her grandaughter, and then we had a nice meal outside and a couple glasses of wine. When Dave made it home, after the restaurant closed, he and Lee updated Lydia on her camp friend's life and whereabouts, and we all made plans for the following day. And then, happily, we climbed into actual beds to go to sleep. It's amazing how grateful we were after only one day of sleeping in a van ...
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