Busy, Busy



Our last day at the Mount & what a busy one, for us & the seaside town which is gearing up for an even busier Labour Weekend. There's a different vibe about, people are cheerful & friendly, they're obviously in holiday mode.  The camp ground is fully booked for the long weekend & turning away people already. We had hoped to have this final day free to relax, wind down & prepare the van before leaving for Napier in the morning but as has been the case for just about every day we've been here we've had a day full of appointments & errands to run.

But before we got the day underway we had one last breakfast at Slow Fish, our favourite café here at the Mount & were pleased to find another friend having a coffee there too. She was surprised as she'd thought we'd already left town so we were able to say another farewell to her.

Big Breakfast for him & Waffle & fruit salad with a side of bacon for me.

On the way back to the van we came across the mobile catering truck again, parked in the camp ground beside the boardwalk. It was there a few days ago & David had asked what they were up to. They run impromptu cook schools for passing pedestrians, they were also having some photography done on some of the dishes they were preparing. It's a pity the gulls flew in when they turned their backs!

The beach came alive this evening when the new season's business house beach volley ball competition started up.

And when we arrived back after our busy day out we found another Ultima parked up with new owners on board awaiting their ute which again was having the fifth-wheel fitted. This Ultima was the same size as ours but with a different inside configuration. It has a large rear window where two comfy chairs are located, it has a smaller kitchen with a large C shaped sofa in the slide-out. The entry is also towards the rear. The new owners came over to introduced themselves & to see if we had any helpful tips. We look forward to seeing them on the road sometime.

And while I was out taking photos of the new Ultima I took the opportunity of taking some of another one that arrived a few days ago. It was located up on the level behind us so we haven't had too much to do with the owners although we've said hello. This one is three years old & is a slightly smaller van than ours with a few differences. So now there's been four Ultimas including ours in camp while we've been here & all of them have been different models. Different strokes for different folks!

Something else that has been busy, busy in the camp are the rabbits, dozens & dozens of rabbits breeding like, well, rabbits! They are everywhere. Step outside your van at night and there are dozens of small dark shapes dotted around the grass. Clap your hands and they scatter in every direction.

There's a large family that have a rabbit warren inside the retaining blocks of the wall beside the stairs. They have to jump up three blocks to get inside but it must be a large home as there's a huge pile of dirt outside. It's been quite entertaining watching them spread out to feed during the day. They run flat stick from car to car, caravan to caravan cautiously checking out what's about before moving out to graze. There's about six babies that hide under the ramp up to the stairs, they aren't quite so scared & enjoy jumping about like spring bunnies doing flips & high kicks around each other.

David spoke to the camp manager about them & he said it's been a bonus season for breeding & they're having trouble keeping on top of these cute pests. We thought being in the city they would probably have to poison them but apparently they do get in a rabbit shooter every so often.

Well that's it for the Mount & Tauranga, we have had a wonderful if somewhat busy three weeks since selling the house. We've tied up all the loose ends, said our farewells to family & friends & even though we feel a little sad to be leaving the city that has been our home for the last 24 years we're keen to get this show on the road!

And just for those who are still keen to know numbers, what was the count this evening? The counter read 51,785! That means close to 40,000 people have passed by our humble abode in the last 13 days. It's a pity I missed the first week's count. And I promise I won't mention counter numbers again :)