39. Taupo – Rotorua

Tuesday, March 19: Cloudy in the morning, becoming sunny & warm

Funky Green Voyager, 4 Union St, various single rooms, $50

Was up just before the alarm, and Donna was already gone, although Steve seemed to still be around, and moved his car in the driveway. I had the usual breakfast, washed the dishes, decided I had enough time for a shave, and then the rest of the stuff was thrown into the suitcase.

Ready to go @ 9:30, passed one bus driver moving today’s bus to its departure position. Long wait for the buses, and there were three in total, one to Auckland, one to Wellington, and our small one to Rotorua. In the end the bus was full, and the bus driver was about fifteen minutes behind schedule. Anyway the trip was not particularly long, and we were soon in Rotorua and the long trek back down the main road could begin. Was greeted here by Essex and shown my first room (Astrid).

Walk around the place was next on the program. The Warehouse here didn’t have any of the T-shirts I wanted in M, then it was downtown for a pie @ Ronnie’s Café (1192 Pukuatua St), a look at Astray (still there, but no longer in BBH) and from there to Eat Streat. I now understand the structure on the time lapse photos, although the angle I was using was very refined to say the least. The structure itself will have to be shot from another angle.

On the foreshore “Imagine” is gone, and there is a feeling that some aspects of past trips are slowly but surely becoming history.

Supermarket was the next stop. Have decided on ham on toast with coffee for breakfast, & ham sandwiches for lunch for the next couple of days. Saw that Countdown had the sistema containers for $3 less, but opportunity is all. Might even buy the ‘single yoghurt’ containers as well; they might also transport a filter. About the only thing missing is a pump-action container for some liquid detergents.

Am charging up the gimbal batteries. Went out to write the diary and was promptly engaged in conversation with all and sundry for about an hour or so. Then I thought it was time for dinner and had sought out a burger place around the corner and went there & was not disappointed: Lamb burger with chips and a bottle of lemonade for $12.5. Burger had mint sauce and beetroot – what more could you ask? (Oppie’s Takeaway, 259 Fenton St.)

Had to make a decision about what to photograph tonight but time stole the sunset from me and that left only Eat Streat. Difficult finding a good position here because of the bright red vehicle cordons at the north end. Even a closer position was not optimal because people kept walking in front of the camera.

Will have to try again from the south end with the upper tripod extension fully deployed and the gimbal on top for further stability. Let’s see.

The evening back at the hostel was spent with a trio of American college students who were trying to outdo each other in wit, and Maureen from Alaska.