Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport…

I woke up on St Patrick’s Day, made myself a cup of tea and went out onto the balcony. The sky was putting on the most magnificent show with an array of crepuscular rays that changed every few seconds. It was absolutely jaw dropping. I sat for ages watching the glorious sky. I finally got up and we started to pack up ready for our trip home to Matamata.

We got the car packed and headed on our way, taking a few more photos of the little beach area as we went. It was decided we should call in quickly to the Huka Prawn Park. We just had a quick look around there and headed over to the Huka Honey Hive again. Okay, okay. I know we’ve already been there twice but we were still regretting a few things we didn’t buy, so off we went.

We sat down for a quick drink in the little cafe again, then wandered around to grab the things we wanted and went to pay, almost praying we wouldn’t be recognised again. But we were. The lady from yesterday said, “oh it’s you again!” and we laughed and made a joke. As we were walking out the door, we heard her laughingly say to the others, “they were here twice yesterday”. Once seen never forgotten I guess. We either looked like criminals casing the joint or honey tragic’s. The latter, of course, was the case. It really is a great shop, as you might have guessed.

From there we travelled down to the Arapuni Suspension Bridge where there is a power station. You can get a great view of the station from the suspension bridge which is surrounded by a rain forested gorge above the Waikato River.. Now, anywhere else in the world, if you were to cross a suspension bridge like this, you would pay for the privilege and rightfully so. I have crossed the Carrick-a-Rede bridge in County Antrim, in Northern Ireland which is a paid attraction but the Arapuni bridge is free and open to cross so I thought I’d give you the differences between the two. Arapuni is 152 metres long and is 54 metres above the water whereas the Carrick-a-Rede is 20 metres long and is 30 metres above the rocks and water. I am not trying to negate the beauty and awe of the Ireland bridge by any stretch of the imagination, as I loved it, but to think that this huge bridge in New Zealand is free to cross, boggled my mind. This is so worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.

From Arapuni, we made our way to the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, a beautiful old hotel overlooking a golf course, with huge, ancient trees all around. We had a bit of a wander through the garden, then had a late lunch and a drink on the large balcony. As we ate our lunch we watched an hilarious game of golf. A young, very trendy girl, who was dressed in a beautiful outfit but not what you would consider conducive to play good golf, was being taught by a young man. Her boyfriend perhaps? But she was so busy trying to film the whole scenario, that she didn’t make contact at all. I think everyone on the balcony was enjoying watching the scene.

From there, it was back to my temporary home, sadly only for a few more days. I know I’ve said it before, but I feel so blessed to have been taken on this journey with my wonderful friends who have made my trip so memorable. Life indeed is great.

Happy writing new stories… Livvy xxx