22-03-07Whilst I remember, weather report.... obvious from the pictures, hot and dry still!
Today we went on a Joe mystery tour drive to explore the countryside round Rotorua and up to the coast line. Set off North from Rotorua and stopped off to check out some lakes and rivers, waterfalls, etc. I must say, everything is exceptionally clean and tiday, even out in the countryside, not one piece off litter have I seen. Also the roads are fabulous, wide open, well maintained and fun to drive.... now I know why all the locals drive Imprezzas and Skylines ;o)
After an hour or so we dived into to cafe on a farm / adventure center for a spot to eat. Lots of the farms round here double up and do some form of adventure stuff, not surprising really with the fantastic scenery (walking tours), rolling hills (off road driving) and fast flowing rivers (rafting and jet boating, bigger and better to come though). We sat on the veranda, no one else around, looking out across the countryside listening to nothing... absolute peace and silence... work was now a distant memory ;o))
The scenery round here is like a cross between Salisbury plain, the New Forest, the Tweenies and pre-historic world... on overdrive. For the fans of the LOTR this is Hobbiton. Pampas grass, flax's and tree ferns grow like weeds here. Did I mention we actually passed another car on the way! Mile on mile off empty roads.
We hit the area to the East of Whakatane and then followed the coastline, mile on mile off wide empty beach. Tooo tempting not to explore. So we parked up and wandered along "our" own beach for half an hour. Deb was of exploring water pools with her camera whilst I was stalking seagulls. Time to move on...
Headed back to Rotorua through a back road, following various lake shorelines, stopping off occasionally to take some piccies. Starting to get the hang of my camera now, shooting without having to think what settings I need to be on. Give it a few more days and you should start seeing the odd decent one appear amongst the usual tourist snaps ;o)
Had a nice meal in an Italian restaurant to finish the day. Heading off to Napier tomorrow, could have done with at least one more day here.
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