Wow, I can't believe we're over a week in already! So I know that time flies when you're having fun and all that, but it certainly doesn't fly when you're flying long-haul...
We set off at a fairly sociable 8am after our first breakfast with Wendy and before long were stopping off at Mount Paku. This was one of my many 'off the beaten track' ideas, some of which were to prove less off the track than others. Mount Paku turned out to be one of the good ones - a detour off the S25 and a short climb on foot gave us views over Tairua harbour and beach. Out to sea we could see Rabbit island and a quick chat with a local on the summit enabled us to see more things - such as disturbed areas of seawater which were actually shoals of fish.
Next stop was Opotoure, which I thought was a beach so was surprised to turn up to what looked like an estuary and wooded reserve. Nonetheless we strolled off through the nature reserve to the songs of many birds. One bird in particular (I don't know what it is I'm afraid!) sounded to me very much like a London Midland cross-city train leaving the station - a combination of beeps and hisses - very odd to hear! The path through the delightful bush in fact did lead to yet another gorgeous deserted beach, where I made the age-old mistake of paddling just a tad too far in and getting caught put by an uncommonly huge wave. Cue wet-arse for the next sting of driving! The wave must have been holding am awful lot of sand in suspension as I was covered in it - not pleasant for myself or poor Wendy.
As we headed onwards we came across the first queue of cars I've seen since leaving Auckland. Coming quickly to the front of the queue it was distressingly obvious that a very serious collision had very recently occurred. A passenger in Wendy at the time myself it was sobering to see that each of the three cars involved still had passengers inside. I do hope they end up ok and commend the traffic officers on their efficient of getting traffic through - in the UK an accident of that magnitude would have the road shut for at least half a day.
Carrying on, we filled up with petrol at Waihi, commiserating the fact that we'd been travelling a day and already used a full tank! We then continued on to Karahangauke where a gorge walk Kay ahead of us. This was the site of an old gold and silver mine, so the structural remains of the mine workings were interestingly spread about the area. Caves, fixings and pipes were to be found along the gorge, and old railway bridges spanned the river, in addition to new very wobbly ones, limited to 10 people at a time. After the penultimate river crossing on our walk we were presented with a 1 km rail runnel through the rock. Far from being exciting, this was dark, wet and rather chilly. Imagine Edgbaston canal tunnel, just ten times longer and with fewer lights. We also (similar to Edgbaston) frequently ran the risk of getting run over by cyclists as the tunnel was fairly narrow.
Pleased to be out of the tunnel, and our eyes still adjusting to the light again, we set off in Wendy for the final leg of today's drive. This was punctuated only by a scenic lunch stop on a peninsula, where we successfully tried out the foldout table and even remembered to fold it back up and secure it before setting off again.
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