Meeting up with A fellow Blogger from half a world away

 Greetings lovely friends & readers

It's been awhile  . . . . .  I did not mean to be gone for so long.

    Our computer finally died & the new one sat in boxes on my lounge floor for 3 weeks.  Eldest son came & set it all up for me a week ago & we've had the initial "teething problems" including a certain overweight large black furry family member jumping on the keyboard & locking everything (!!!) 😖 Fingers crossed I can get this post to Publish.

On the 15th of last month I once again pulled on my big girls panties - & drove across the island to Mount Maunganui.  

Janet from the blog Rogue Quilter is coming up to (I think) her 14th year of blogging & I am sure I would have been following along for at least 10 of those years.  We have corresponded over the years & also did a swap exchange together once.  

Last year Janet mentioned she & her husband were doing a Cruise of Australia & New Zealand in March of this year, so I inquired whether they would be stopping in at the Port of Tauranga on their cruise.  When she replied Yes, I decided to try & meet up with her.

The Port of Tauranga where the Cruise Ships come into, is situated in stunning Pilot Bay, in Mount Maunganui.  I left home in the dark for my 2 hour journey & arrived to a gorgeous blue sky day.  

I have to say from the moment Janet & I first hugged, it felt like we had been friends for years - we just seemed to have an instant connection.  We were lucky enough to be joined by Raewyn - a fellow blogger from Northland, who happened to be in the area for a family birthday. It was wonderful to see Raewyn again as it is well over 10 years since we last met up when she came to my craft cottage. 

The cruise ship that Janet was travelling on.

First on the agenda was a walk around the Mount base track - this is a distance of 3.4 kilometres & takes about 45 minutes.  We stopped many times along the way to take photos, admire the views & just chat.  

Janet, Raewyn & myself

Here is a view of the Mount in the background after we'd completed the walk.

Very proud of ourselves for managing it (!!)

Next up was coffee at a little outdoor cafe on the beach front.  Just wonderful to sit & the chatting came so easily 💗

Janet very generously presented both Raewyn & I with a gift each.  Our packages included some of her wonderful handmade soaps, choccy truffles, a charm pack of fabrics & a mug rug.  Janet does the most exquisite detailed patchwork & I am always in awe of the tiny pieces she puts together so perfectly.  

Both Raewyn & I had gifts for Janet but I have forgotten to photograph these.  Because of the tiny detailed work she does I had decided to make her one of the miniature Japanese House Pincushions that I made in this post. I also included a linen NZ tea-towel & my friend's handmade calendula soap.

After coffee we walked down to the main street for a little retail therapy - Janet was looking for some souvenir items & Raewyn & I were happy to help her search.  We then found a wonderful little cafe in a side street that served gluten free food & enjoyed the most delicious lunch together.  

Janet's final request was to put her feet in that ocean ... of which we were happy to oblige.  The water was refreshing, but not cold & we had a good paddle.

Look at those fluffy white clouds  ⛅💙

This photo is borrowed from Janet's blog post

We even managed to find 3 sand dollars & Raewyn found a starfish.

You can read Janet's post about the cruise * here * & also Lou, another fellow blogger who managed to meet up with Janet, has written a great post * here *. 

All too soon it was time for us to say our Goodbyes & for Janet to reboard the ship.  As I began the journey home my heart felt full for this wonderful day that I would treasure for a long time to come & it reinforced to me how special this little blog of mine is.

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

I have lots to catch up on with posting - please bear with me as I navigate my way around this new computer & get back to visiting you all at your blogs,

Sending much love & friendship out to you all,