We had a cold night,and kept heating on all night. This morning we found frost on the pontoon, a rare event but a bit cold for bare feet.

Lovely sunny day with clear skies so we decided to go a bit further afield for our walk today. We meandered south and ended up at Te Arei. It was a bit breezy and surfers were out in force at the beaches we passed on our way although none here, not many walkers or swimmers either although the notice at the top of the beach warning of strong rip currents, large waves, deep holes and no lifeguards may have had something to do with it. Lovely sand but perhaps not a place to bring the kids. We had a good walk along the beach and as at Ruakaka there was evidence of erosion following the storms and extra high tides. It will be interesting to see what happens to the dunes because a large chunk has disappeared and although there are signs that some sand has been returned it is nowhere near the amount that had disappeared.

Chris went for a walk on the beach, but it was high tide and I do not like walking on the soft sand so opted to walk around the estate. There are many more houses than when we first arrived a few years ago and they are squashed a lot closer than I expected. The second phase is more or less completed and another lake has been excavated so Stace Hopper drive will reroute again. I thought I would take a few photos so I could compare the changes when we eventually return. The lake will presumably be surrounded by houses unless there is a downturn in the economy in which case it will be a muddy building site

We took advantage of the good weather and had a few days out of the marina. We anchored at Tutakaka and then went out to Poor Knights for the day (It is not suitable for overnight anchoring) It was a beautiful day and I hoped to get some nice photos but unfortunately Poor Knights had its own personal dark cloud that hovered over it all day. Returned to Tutakaka and then back to Marsden the next day

Loo now seems OK. Today Chris is installing the new mirrors They look very good and a big improvement on the old ones that had lost their silver due to damp ingress.

Have had a problem with blocked toilet so had to return to Marina for repairs. It should have been a simple but niffy job but took longer than expected because the waste pipes were very stiff. We ended up replacing them with new more expensive ones (double the price) which were much easier to bend around tight corners. Boat loos tend to be in rather small spaces