Friday, March 13: A little cloudy to begin with, but very sunny & warm in Whakatane
Windsor Lodge, 10 Merritt St., Whakatane 3120, tel.: +64 7 308 8040, double as single, shared facilities (BBH, $45 + $3)
There was just a little bit of business to be cleared up after the excitement of yesterday. A trip to the closer and smaller i-site just revealed that I had to go to the main office and speak with Tyra-Lee which I promptly did, and told my story of how the boatie jumped in and took me back. Got my money back, and a promise that there would be consequences.
Then there was a rucksack that I had eyed a couple of days ago – New Zealand/All Blacks/Silverfern design – that would do as a carrier of purely the computer stuff and be a good souvenir at the same time. The shop didn’t seem to be opening for some time, so I cleared my stuff out of the motel and walked around the block for a bit. Bloke in the shop seemed poised to open it, and after I had inspected a few restaurant menus nearby, his wares had been rolled out onto the street and he was open for business. I got one with a blue theme, and for $15 this seemed quite reasonable. Proprietor was very chatty but I was determined to make my way to the coast early.
I had seem a Mobil station yesterday on the north side of town where the prices were 10c cheaper, so I called along there and filled the very empty tank for $1.63/L (including the 4c supermarket discount), which is about 30c cheaper than the most expensive stuff I’ve seen. Not quite sure how this works.
As far as I can remember I hadn’t done the SH30, at least not in its entirety, so I took off down it. Very heavily forested and Rotomana seems a pleasant enough place on the lake. Fairly soon I was in Whakatane for lunch – went into the supermarket for a couple of slices of roast beef for $2.2 which made for a couple of very edible sandwiches down at the beach.
Searching for the library I went to the place where I thought it had been and it had moved! Some change at least. Checked the weather (tropical cyclone due in a couple of days’ time), spaces on the Waikaremoana Track, and tides in Hastings, sent Henry another message. Then looked for a place to spend the night. Skyped here – and was given a room at a cheaper price. Had a bit of difficulty with the street signs but eventually found the place and booked in for two nights hoping to do some kayaking tomorrow – if not, then tramping.
Called a kayaking place from here and received a call back. went down to see the chap return with a small group. May well do 3 hours of freedom kayaking tomorrow for $60 – Ohope Harbour – seems calm enough to try the camera without the protective bag (but with security in place).
Dinner was a cheeseburger and a scoop of chips from the fish’n’chip shop around the corner for $9. Ate only half of the chips and saved the leftovers for reheating tomorrow.
Spent the evening transcribing the diary and filling in a few details from the Tongariro circuit, day 2.
