I Thought He Was Dead

Apr 4, 2026

A great night’s sleep followed by a vague plan to drive somewhere turned into an interesting day that showed Wellington how things should be done. If you recall, and I barely mentioned it, we had some issues with laundry in Wellington. Well, strictly speaking issues with drying. Perhaps as a consequence of blowing the electrics but nothing is provable. Anyway, we’ll get to that.

After warning you of Storm Dave in the last epistle I dreamed that there was water flowing outside our room. Lo and behold, it had lashed during the night. The whole place was drenched.

This required a bit of thinking. Once that was done I decided that long trousers were in order. Saved on suncream. I then felt compelled to check on how my avocados had fared during the deluge. It was a relief to find them intact but in need of a good airing to dry them out.

Off we went for brunch and a mission to obtain $2 coins for our mission today. Quite a nice breakfast and they were happy to break a tenner for change.

After breakfast we spotted a market and who can resist judging local markets. Not us. This was particularly poor and included a singer that drove Mrs Verno to reflect that I could do better. As it was such a low bar I did not take kindly to that. To add to my feeling of disgruntlement I had taken to a hat I had seen in an angler’s shop. One size fits all fills me with hope and faith in the world but often to be resolved into disappointment and resentment towards the planet and its occupants as invariably one size does not fit all. It’s at these times Mrs Verno seems to take a simple pleasure in quietly reflecting that “You must have a big head,” and leaving it at that.

Off to Woolworths we went then for provisions and laundry sheets. Back to base camp and then to the laundry room. The washing machine was full of someone’s finished wash but Mrs Verno was ruthless in discarding this as she set to her chosen task. I was summarily dismissed to go take some photos and that was that.

It was during this that I spotted a sign showing a local estate agent. While not one for the youngsters I did take a second look as the name and picture seemed to match our sadly missed Bobby Ball. You be the judge.

I visited all the beaches in and around Whitianga. As I was packing up at the last beach a young man enquired as to whether I had any good shots. I reassured hinm that I had not. Conversation ensued and he was originally from Palermo. WE reflected on the death race nature of the traffic there. He did not disagree. He too was a keen amateur photographer. He offered to give me his website to check out his work. From a Sicilian this was an offer I could not refuse. (I’m here all week.)

I returned to find Mrs Verno painting her nails.

I should also mention that that during the night she had been bitten by a rather brave insect and her hand had swollen to the size of a fist. That necessitated us delving into my EpiPen Pouch and to retrieve some Ceterizine. This worked a treat and within the hour Mrs Verno’s hand was back to the size of a hand. An Easter miracle. I was busy having a cup of tea when my phone went. Mrs Verno had disappearmed to the laundry and off I went. Now the laundry room is the size of an old fashioned outside lavvy and I was quite surprised to find Mrs Verno at the drier and beyond her standing a tall Germanic looking gentleman and a lady. WTF. It appears they had appeared and were quietly passively aggressively ensuring their turn at the drier. Mrs Verno was not a little put out and very nearly did not finish her afternoon wine. The couple turned up shortly after and were Dutch which explains the direct approach. They too are fellow sufferers like us and traversing the globe. They have us trumped by three weeks and a trip to Tahiti. Interestingly they had been to Iran in 2014 after the Nuclear Deal had been signed and things were normalised. They were due to visit San Francisco and had to complete reams of paperwork and attend an interview at the US embassy. Karma worked in reverse for crowding Mrs Verno out. It nearly made up for the one size fits all cap not fitting my apparently oversized head.

We sorted our washing and then prepared to go for tea. Preparation meaning we laid horizontal for a while with a bit of snoring as and when required. Preparation nonetheless.

Tea was problematic as Whitianga had now woken up from its Good Friday slumber and everywhere was bunged. Oasis was blaring from the Irish bar. Go think. We ended up in SALT when a helpful waiter squeezed us in. 30 minutes later we walked out. First time ever walking out of a place. Enough said. We found ourselves in Cooked, a mexican Cantina and had some delicious quesadillas and tortillas. Mrs Verno had a Singapore Sling substitute, a Margarita. Lovely. Back home for more packing as tomorrow is once again a moving day.