Grr.

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Kerikeri
December 27th 2006

Published: December 27th 2006

Bleurgh. Yesterday was horrible. Actually the morning was nice enough. I just about managed to pack all of my belongings into my two backpacks. When i got to the air port they were more than the allowance though! Have to do some pruning. I spent the morning relaxing, painting my toe nails, spending time with nana and Sophie and playing with their two gorgeously cute kittens. Liz took me to the airport for a 3pm flight to Auckland. It was on another little plane. I still got RSI from the engines under me. Once at Auckland I got a hire car (which was lucky I think, as the first two places I went in to were all hired out and I was getting a bit worried). It took me ages to get over the Bay Bridge. I wasn't looking forward to Auckland initially, I'm not a city girl, but driving past the the harbour with all the boats in, big buildings, including the Sky Tower I want to go to, it did all look cool and I'm looking forward to discovering it all with my friend Bryony. I started driving up Highway 1 and once out of the city there was some lovely country again. Lush green (which is why it was raining so hard) and those lovely fern trees again that I like. I stopped a couple of times to take pics, including one of a gorgeous rainbow during a slow and strange sunset. But they were the good bits. Dave had told me it would be three hours from Auckland, but Steven predicted more like five, and he was right. It took ages to get out of Auckland, partly the time of day (I'd landed at 4pm and was on the road for 4.15pm), and also there are resurfacing works with lanes closed - so I just crawled along. And I discovered that Auckland drivers are much more happy to use The Finger than other drivers I'd encountered... After that the roads cleared up, but it poured with rain on and off, so it was slow going. Even though the single lane roads have passing places, if you get stuck behind a caravan, a car towing a boat or a logging truck, it's even slower. Time was marching on and I was getting a bit weary of driving. Don't worry, I did make sure I took regular stops and got up and walked around and all that stuff. It didn't help that I continued on Highway 1 by mistake, instead of taking Highway 10 as I was supposed to. I had driven through a town I couldn't see on the map, then had another look and realised it was because I was on the wrong highway that had forked off to the left. Grr. It was getting a little bit dark by then, and I was getting quite tired as I'd been driving since 4.15pm. So I turned around and headed back. Then I saw a sign for Keo I think it was. Rather than going all the way back down to where the highways joined, I thought I would take this road, as where I wanted to be was only a few Ks up from Keo. So off I trot. This is by now a little country road I'm driving along in the blue dusk. Then I get to a cross road with "Keo 32k" and "Keri Keri 14k". As it's Keo I want, I take the turning. This is fine until I get to a T junction. By now it's pitch black. It's raining hard. The rock station is not playing the Rolling Stones tracks I desperately want to listen to. And the sign posts are unhelpful in the extreme. I look at the map, which I have discovered is not detailed enough, but everywhere one would purchase a map is closed. Obviously. I'm in the middle of thinking "oh woe is me" when I see headlights behind me nad have to make a decision. I take the left, as the sign is bigger and suggests to me it's a bigger town or a more important road. WRONG! I'm now on a dirt track. In the middle of nowhere. Late. Dark. Raining. Tired. Pissed off. I have a moment of clarity and decide that perhaps heading back to that junction where Keri Keri was only 14Ks away isn't a bad idea. I'll be back on a main road. So I head off and do that, aware by now that the petrol gauge is running a tad hungry. I eventually get on to the main road and head North once again. By now it's about 10pm and all I want to do is cuddle up in bed. I pass the sign for Matauri Bay Road, which is the turn off for Dave and Sue, so I know that Wharangau or wherever it is that I'm styaing isn't far and I actually see a sign for it, so I know I'm on the right road. Hurrah! I continue driving. And I continue. And I continue some more. There is a scary bridge I have to cross. Actually, it's not really scary, but it's dark and I'm tired and it's on a junction as well and I don't have right of way and I manage to cross it without driving into the water. And then I drive some more. And some more. And I think, "When I see the next sign, I'll just check the map" as I've driven quite a few Ks by now. then I see a sign for Taupo Bay and swear quite a lot as I know that is far further north than where I want to be. So I turn the car round, look at the map and estimate how many Ks back to Wharangpapapooheadsillystupidlittleplace it is. In the end, my guess turned out to be accurate to within 1km! So I bomb back down the road, even more pissed off (and, funnily enough, the music keeps getting louder as I go round in concentric circles getting ever closer to my bed for the night). I pass a few signs which I can't see on my map. So I stop once again and pull out the guide book with the details of the place I'm staying in, intending to call them and ask them where the hell they are. The tiny map in the guide book shows a bit more detail though, including the place I've just driven through, so I head back on the road, knowing I have to turn left at a big junction. Much to my surprise (no more swearing, honest) this junction is the one where the scary bridge is!! It's signposted Whangeroupippywhateveritis when heading South, but heading North it's not. Very, very helpful. Well done. Fantastic. Brilliant. So I take the turning, see a sign for the lodge and head for a few Ks through the village until I get to the place. It's not about 10.40pm. The guy seems surprised that I'm turning up, even though they knew it was likely to be 9 or 10 when I got there. I'd booked a single room and he tried to lead me into a dorm where there was someone already, so took me down to another room. It was outside the main bulding and down a small hill, past a washing line. During day light hours, this is fine. However in the dark, bit more of an adventure. I ended up holding the hand of the guy (who looked like he had been enjoying a vice or two) as he walked me down the hill. The room was basically a little box, as wide as the sliding French doors, held a bed and a side table with a lamp. It was about six feet two inches high, so wearing my shoes I had to duck going in, I hit my head on the lights and when I put my backpack on the next morning it was an adventure... It was painted a nice colour, and was quite contemporary, but a box none-the-less. And the toilet and shower was that walk back up the hill to the main office. Just as well I had my torch. I got my car parked, stuff in my room and by then had woken up. Which was just as well as, despite saying that they would turn it off, they played music loudly until gone 1am. The only tiny weeny ickle consolation was they they did have good taste in music. So I eventually dropped off to sleep, after an early morning rather freshing run up the hill to the loo. All I wanted, right then, was to be back in my bed at home, all safe and snuggled up 😞 And I had even run out of credit on my phone so couldn't spread my bad news to mum or Adam in order to elicit TLC. Bugger.

I'd already decided to travel in the morning and not at night. I didn't want to go first thing in the morning, which is, I guess, why I booked the afternoon flight. In retrospect, the mornign flight would have been much, much better. D'oh.

Woke up this morning vaguely refreshed, but stiff after 6 hours in the car (and another hour on the plane). Got out of there as I wasn't staying another night, even though it looked much nicer during the day, and headed out for fuel and the nearest big town, Keri Keri, to work out what I'm doing for the next few days. I need an easy day today I think, I should be seeing Dave and Sue this afternoon, an early night and I'll be much refreshed for tomorrow!

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