There was time for a shower this morning and breakfast was over before the girls got up. Everything was packed away neatly and I was ready to go by 9:30.<\/p>\n
For the first part it was very rainy, so perhaps the car was a bit cleaner, but the rain dematerialised very quickly on the downward approach to Thames. In Thames itself I parked the car opposite the i-site and went for a walk up and down the main street. There was some sort of charity event on and eventually found a place with a steak pie for $3.2. The library had closed at 12:00 which was pretty exactly the time I arrived there. Down the SH2 I kept a lookout for a place to stop to have lunch but only found the Caf\u00e9 Bugger, and one picnic place where it was very difficult to drive onto it, so I continued on and was pretty quickly on the motorway. Then there was a fruit-and-veg place with an opportunity to park and I had the (by now lukewarm) pie there.<\/p>\n
I had decided to try to get to AVH (the car hirer) in Auckland to settle the bill, and it was a mistake to rely on GoogleMaps. The impression given that you travel down one road with a single name is false; occasionally the road may take a turn off at a traffic light and \u201cstraight ahead\u201d leads down some other road. Eventually I hit the Great North Road and recognised that I was too far south so I turned right and was at the car rentals place fairly quickly. Paid the bill, had the air pressures checked and everything was in the green zone.<\/p>\n
Then it was back to Papakura for a look around town. Couldn\u2019t find much to begin with, then at the swimming pool I saw a collection of major supermarkets. Drove around there trying to find the library but it had closed at 4:00. Bought some crumpets for tomorrow morning and had a look around for a place to eat for tonight. Still have to decide. Saw a hairdresser that was open and was promptly served with a trim for $14.<\/p>\n
Then it was down to Michelle\u2019s, whose place I had passed on my tour of the town and was greeted by her and a girlfriend & a beer while the telly played.<\/p>\n
BBH came up with nothing for the eclipse so I placed a request via airbnb. Dinner was half of a $7 special of two fish, two sausages and $2 worth of chips. Way too much.