Rushed Trip.

There has been all together too much death and too many funerals around here lately.

Here are some photos of a very rushed trip we had to take down through the Central North Island to Palmerston North - a trip of 5 hours each way. We had to go to a young 35 year old relation's farewell. ( motor cycle accident ).

Ever thoughtful of my blog and the fact that some of you in other parts of the world love to see different parts of the country I spent time hanging out the car window trying to get photos. We did stop a few times.We quite surprised ourselves by the speed with which we were able to make this journey.

We came in from work on Wednesday and picked up the newspaper at 5.15 pm. Saw the time of the funeral next morning at 11am ; both rushed through the shower, threw some clothes and gear in a case and had left here in less than an hour.We stopped at Taupo for some dinner( only half an hour ) and I took the photos of a beautiful red sky sunset looking across Lake Taupo towards the mountains , from our table in the restaurant. No more photos that evening as it was dark - we arrived very tired at 11.45 pm and booked into a hotel.

Next day,after the funeral we made a few calls on rellies before making the return trip and arriving home at 10.15 pm. The last 6 photos were on the return trip and show the mountains that stand in the middle of the North Island of NZ in Tongariro National Park. The country side around the mountains is desert and the road is called the Desert Road and is very different from most green grassy parts of the country. Mt. Ngauruhoe is the cone shaped mountain and Mt Ruapehu the larger snow tipped one. Mt Tonagiro was not visible.The last 2 pictures are Lake Taupo looking from the Southern end this time.

We were only away from home for 28 hours but fitted a lot into that time. I saw lots of rellies including my sister who I hadn't seen in person for a while. One of the other calls afterwards was to my 85 year old Aunt. I just couldn't be in her city and not visit - no matter how pressed for time we were. I am glad we made time as she was delighted to see us( and accept the 6 avos I threw into a bag to take).She is getting frail but her mind is still sharp. One never knows when they just might not be there.My favourite Auntie - my late mum's younger sister.

Today we were 2 quite tired orchard workers - we might be getting too long in the tooth for that sort of rushing around. DH drove all the way even though we could have shared it; he loves driving - fine by me. (He also goes faster for that sort of journey ) Let's hope that is all the dying for a while!( needless to say - no sewing for the last few days.)