Saturday, March 16: Very cloudy to begin with, clearing to moderately cloudy by afternoon
Donna’s (airbnb, $53.8)
The alarm seemed to work OK, and I was the only one about the house (except for two cats who were in various stages of interaction). I managed to get a coffee and a couple of slices of toast with cheese on top for the improvised breakfast. Everything packed into the suitcase and backpack, with the supplementary pack almost empty, because the tent fit into the suitcase.
I was ready for my taxi by 7:20 and put my stuff out on the corner. One from another company passed by, then the bus that I was later to take and the driver and I saluted each other. Then @ 7:30 my ordered taxi.
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I was well in time for the bus and had my stuff loaded ready for the change in Bulls and went around to photograph a couple of murals. There was also a bakery and a café in a shopping mall closer to the sea. We left just a little ahead of time, and the driver kept fairly closely to it.
Nothing much transpired, except for the weather getting worse. In Bulls there was a café immediately adjacent to the bus terminal, so I hopped over for a mince pie ($3) which I was able to finish before the connecting bus arrived.
This bus had a first class section complete with wide leather seats, and there was an official lunch stop @ Flat Hills Tourist Park, a café/campground in the middle of nowhere for about ¾ of an hour. This left just over two hours for the rest of the trip.
By now the sun was coming out and the views of the mountains (and later the lake) were well worth it, even from the cheaper seats. We were well on time in Taupo and I was quick to grab my stuff and took off up the street.
My digs this time were opposite the Islamic Center and there was a small crowd already gathered. People had laid wreaths. I found my place & my host was at home so my stuff was quickly put away and I went back down to town to check things out and ask at the i-site about Orakei Korako. Best advice was to hire a car for the day (would in fact be cheaper than a shuttle) and I recognised Rhonda from the Turangi i-site from 2010.
Back here one Steve had also turned up and was gone again, but Donna who had said she wanted to leave by 5:30 was still around. This time I went back out for a pizza (Greedy Feast – a meatlovers – from Greedy Pizza, 30 Tamamutu St, for $14) in a box, and I ate it just outside. Very cake-like dough, firm, not soggy, but definitely not crispy.
One more visit here netted the camera for a sunset series and I was down at the shore for the procedure. Should have been at the water’s edge, but got two good sunset glows and then returned one last time.
This time Donna was gone, and I had difficulty with the key, until I decided to try them all out. One did open the door and I was home for the evening.
