12th Nov day 29 driving in NZ and meeting Carol

Carol (Simon's girlfriend) very kindly lent him her car for the day so that I could use his to give me a chance to better get to know the area. Nicholas and I dropped him off at her house, so he could collect the car, then I dropped Nicholas at school. It was a cold, wet morning and it was too early to go to the shops so I drove back, making a few deliberate detours en route to get my bearings. I had a lazy morning, which included my quiet time, emailing friends, writing my blog and reading. I ate the second muffin I had bought yesterday with a cuppa before heading out to the shops. 

Simon only had a table top ironing board which made shirts challenging to say the least so I headed to Mitre 10, which for all the world is like our B&Q, where I bought a full size board plus, candles for his lounge and annuals for the two pots by his back door. 

I was over the moon when I arrived on Tues to see he had got rid of all the veg plots and laid the garden to lawn for easy maintenance. You see on each of my previous visits I have spent days weeding and edging the garden and planting summer bedding, but not any more, just a couple of planters which I love doing and it will be done - well done son. The garden wraps around the house so is a good size but here is a part of the front and the back to give you a flavour for how well he's done, pics taken in the sunshine of yesterday.

I went to the Warehouse where I bought table mats and napkins as Carol was coming for dinner and Simon was cooking for us all. It was then time to get Nicholas from school and honestly his face when he saw me lit up like Blackpool Illuminations, what a delight for me - it's true to say that in all my life no-one has ever been as pleased to see me as my adorable 3 grandsons. He wanted to get some Pokemon cards like his school friend Keshav that I met yesterday, so we headed for Coinsave which is on Heretaunga St, the main shopping area in Hastings, with him giving me directions. Then we went to the Library which is a fabulous facility here. Nicholas is an avid reader so Simon could never keep up with buying all the reading material he devours.

He chose a Batman book and had read a quarter of it by the time I had chosen a book for myself! He showed me how to play Pokemon in between the cartoons he wanted to watch and the hoovering I wanted to do. Needless to say he thrashed me but am hoping in the next 8 weeks to even the score. Simon got home and started cooking whilst Nicholas and I smartened ourselves up for a nice dinner.

This was the first time I had met Carol so I didn't know what to expect but she is a lovely, warm, friendly, larger than life young woman. She is smart, attractive and such fun to be around, so it's easy to see why Simon likes her. They seem happy and comfortable together which was great for me to see. The meal was delicious some sort of spicy chowmein with a scummy low fat dessert. For 10 years Carol and her family ran a restaurant in Taupo (it has got a beautiful lake there and is situated right in the middle of the North Island) so she is a good cook and is sharing her recipes with Simon. 

After coffee Nicholas went to bed and Carol & Simon went out for a while, it's wonderful being able to babysit for them like I can do now for Cheryl and Mark. I watched Homes Under the Hammer, as I have been having withdrawal symptoms not being able to see it for over 4 weeks. It was quite cold by now so I turned off the heating and went to read in my warm, comfy bed.