Friday 21st November 2025

Friday 21^st November

SHE SAID:

We left Raglan before 8.30am, heading south for New Plymouth.

I planned to take the scenic route, but it didn’t pan out according to plan! The stop at the Natural Bridge at Mangapohue wasn’t an hour loop track anymore, though Google Maps & the website said it was. We wasted ½ hour trying to find the so-called track, but gave up hot, sweaty & annoyed, backtracking the way we had come.

The Natural Bridge at Mangapohue was stunning though; it was a further 20km west. BUT, the road south through the pass at Marokopa didn’t go well. The road signs said the pass was open, but there was a road closed sign at the top of the pass! NOT HAPPY, & a 60km backtrack was required!

We got to Ang & Tony’s an hour later than planned, but we made it. As always, Ang & Tony were excellent hosts; the food was awesome & we chatted away like we’d caught up months ago, instead of 7 years (for me) & 12 years for Geoff.

Natural Bridge at Mangapohue

Natural Bridge at Mangapohue

Three Sisters & Elephant Rock

HE SAID:

We’ve had better days. A couple of very annoying things occurred, but they were part of the adventure of our travels, and catching up with Ang and Tony made us quickly forget them, as we chatted away. There were drinks, food, and day one of The Ashes in Perth, where England amazed themselves with their own crappy, super-aggressive Bazball-style batting, which didn’t work, yet again. Australia then batted normally, but still got out very cheaply, and 19 wickets fell on the first day. It may be all over in two days at this rate!