Paihia – Returning to Te Ika-a-Māui

52. Paihia – Whangarei

Monday, April 1: Showers the whole day, very humid, clearing in the afternoon

The Cell Block, 91 Cameron St., single with toilet ($60)

The alarm hadn’t yet rung (by about a minute or so) but I was still up @ 7:30 and had plenty of time for breakfast and to check the net to see if my further booking in Auckland had been reneged upon (it had not), and pack the rest of the stuff, which was all done by 9:00. Locked up Jarrad’s place and put the key into the safe and away I was having selected a relatively rain-free period via radar to time my walk to the bus stop.

Was about the first there, although peu-a-peu people gathered, and so far the weather held, I was in no rush to get on the bus when it finally arrived with about ten minutes’ delay, as I was going to be one of the first passengers off again. When I came to load my luggage the driver told me to put it inside the bus (a double-decker again) which also made sense. Read more…

51. Rainy Day in Paihia

Sunday, March 31: Rain on and off during the day, drier towards evening

Jarrad’s

Breakfast had to be in two parts this morning because the bread I had left behind had indeed gone off in the meantime. It was sultana bran to begin with and an orange juice, then down to the shops for the bread, and back here for toast and coffee.

Spent the rest of the morning trying to get something in airbnb near Rayna’s place with a reasonable check-in and not too complicated rules (surely they must have an option to exclude single males from even seeing some places if they are non grata?!?) and eventually sent off a request that took a long time in being answered and was rejected in the end. Then the question of the cooker replacement at home had to be addressed, at least in its initial stage. Read more…

50. Motukawanui – Mahinepua (CC5) – Paihia

Saturday, March 30: Rather cloudy with 20 knot easterly winds on the water, a drop of rain, and a few showers in the afternoon

Kayaking: 10.8 km

Jarrad’s

Wake up call for everyone was 7:30 and our breakfast was rather simple this morning: Muesli with the fruit salad thrown in and milk. Everything had to be packed in again, and the hut swept out as best as possible.

Because it might rain or otherwise be wet on the water we were advised to put on the dry tops, and I had all of the electronics under deck. The bay we were about to cross looked calm enough, but the problem was going to be the combination of high swell from the north with wind from behind us. Once out of the sheltered bay we were in the thick of it and Magnus directed us to stay together and aim for the point almost directly west, where we would then take a left hand turn. Read more…

45. Paihia: Lookout Track

Monday, March 25: Sunny and quite warm

Tramping: 6.5 km

Jarrad’s

Was up bright and early, well before the others and had my breakfast (finally finished off the hiking crackers). After that travel planning was on the agenda. Managed to get a response from the Cell Block in Whangarei and had to decide between a simple room for $45 and the deluxe version for $60. Decided on the latter and sent off my credit card details via SMS. Still have no confirmation, but we’ll take that as it comes.

Still no news from ATHop so I called them and fifteen minutes later the account was set up and I could see the balance down to the cent. Had to use the uni-hannover.de email account to get an email through at all, and even then stuff went into the trash folder. Read more…

44. Paihia

Sunday, March 24: sunny to begin with, then overcast with some rain withe the sun returning somewhat in the afternoon

Jarrad’s

I was up early enough to see the French couple leave while I was having my breakfast of two yoghurts and half of what remained of the tramping crackers with the margarine. Put some Nescafe in a cup and added half a teaspoon of something else which I then realised was ground coffee. Very French mixture ensued and with that underway Jarrad made an appearance. His mate Jake who had fallen asleep in front of the telly late last night had woken about 1:00 and gone home (owner of The Mousetrap backpackers).

Tried to see if the internet had solved any problems and engaged in a longer discussion of Australian and New Zealand politics with Lorraine from Dunedin who is the only other guest at the moment. Decided I needed some bread, sausage, lemonade and fruit for lunch, so took off to the far Countdown in the hope that the selection was better, sussed out a fish’n’chip shop for tonight and examined the shopping mall in town in greater detail. Read more…

43. Rotorua – Paihia

Saturday, March 23: Cloudy in the morning, a lot of places in fog, clearing somewhat during the day, showers in the evening

Jarrad’s (airbnb, $72.6)

A day for an early start. I had managed to get to bed before 10:00 last night, and was awake @ 5:30 for the alarm. Had the remains of the orange juice, a cup of coffee, then what was left of the milk. Everything packed up OK and I was ready to go by 6:30. Was down at the bus an hour before it left and realised I could have taken one of the city buses down, since they started early enough. Next time set the alarm for 6:00. Read more…

42. Rotorua: Rainbow Springs

Friday, March 22: Cloudy the whole day, although quite variable, a drop or two of rain in the afternoon

Funky Green Voyager (room behind Nick)

Again it was a matter of inserting my breakfast (variation: Chicken herb loaf instead of ham) between the various other guests this morning, and I was packed and had the suitcase and pack in the office well before 10:00

Today I decided I would have a look at the gondolas that go up the hill (Skyline) and also try the kiwi park not far from that, Rainbow Springs. Caught a bus into town and got a transfer ticket for the #1 bus that actually goes out to the place. Bit of a wait in town, and the bus was quite full, but I was soon on the outskirts and on my way to the attractions. Read more…

38. Taupo: Acacia Bay

Monday, March 18: Overcast to begin with, becoming fine, hot & sunny with some active looking cumulus clouds

Cycling: 17.8 km

Donna’s

Today was a day for planning the rest of the trip and trying to get the rest of the planning to set. After a shower and a breakfast of cornflakes & muesli, toast with the last of the tramping butter, OJ, and coffee, I set to work to try to confirm the reservation in Rotorua, and then to see how to get from there to the Far North.

Flights were still available for around $300 – slightly above that if you wanted only an hour’s wait in Auckland, slightly below if a four hour wait was OK. Considering it was the very last minute (and the Saturday was cheaper than the surrounding days) I wonder what it would have cost if I had tried a week ago – as I should have. In any case a 6:45 departure would have meant getting up @ 5:00, and I still would have needed transport to Paihia from Bay of Islands airport, so at this point in time the bus was the last acceptable solution in terms of price v. duration @ $84 – start is @ 7:45, arrival is 17:15. This is @ the limit of decidability. Read more…

37. Taupo: Huka Falls – Aratiatia Rapids

Sunday, March 17: fine, warm, variable cloud

Tramping: 27.8 km

Donna’s

The alarm hadn’t been turned off so I was awake at 6:30, but was able to snooze for an hour or so. The next challenge was breakfast, managed to get everything together except for the toaster, so had a fried muffin instead of a toasted one.

Then a couple of slices of bread were prepared as sandwiches for the walk today, and with all the equipment on board (except for the PLB) I set off for the Aratiatia Rapids. Bit of a walk along the street to begin with, then through the Spa Thermal Park where a disc golf tournament was just beginning and then to the river where there is a freebie hot stream complete with café, toilets and changing rooms. The river has quite a strong current and I thought it might be a nice idea to float down the river a bit, if only for the falls. Read more…

28. Whanganui – New Plymouth

Friday, March 8: Rain on and off throughout the day

Paul’s (airbnb, $37.6)

Made the acquaintance of Sid & Angela at breakfast this morning, and a discussion of criticality followed – he was an (Indian) epidemiologist in public health, and I never found out what she did, except that she plays the piano rather well, and the upright in the lounge room was in tune. They escaped rather quickly after that and I was left on my own with Marina & Brennagh.

Surprise, surprise was that Dempsey’s had refunded me the full $108 I was asking for. There is a real issue of getting email through to them, though, as mine was already labelled as spam. I deleted my remark on their facebook page and will leave it at that for a while. Read more…