Off to the Smoke

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Not quite so much driving today, which is just as well as it’s been incredibly sunny and hot (no complaints!) Having said that, we weren’t being particularly tardy either!!

Firstly we set off for Karangahake Gorge, which was fairly spectacular, but almost impossible to photograph and then drove down to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty, finishing up at Mount Maunganui which gave us the most beautiful views of the most stunning beaches. Maybe it was the blue sky and the bright sunshine, but they were really some of the best beaches we’ve seen. We stopped a while for drinks and route planning and for a chat with a lady selling some darling cross breed Jack Russell puppies - they were absolutely adorable, and I doubt she’ll struggle to sell them (I’d have had one if I’d had half a chance!!)

After a place called Te Puke, we cut off towards Rotorua, a place I’ve always dreamt of visiting after years of geography lessons! We passed through an area claiming to be the largest producer of kiwi fruit in the world. It was really odd, because they had the tallest leylandii hedges around all of the orchards. We’ve seen them elsewhere, but there were so many, I can only assume that there’s a reason for growing them ... maybe to keep the wind off of the fruit trees?

We stopped for lunch at yet more waterfalls (yes, it does seem like they’re round every corner!!), and finally drove into Rotorua. After a visit to Information, we finally ended up on a proper campsite with thermal pools. (You have to be careful here, the first ‘Information’ we called into was actually a tour company who tried to convince me that NZ$150 each was a reasonable price to pay for a trip round the thermal pools)

So late afternoon was spent lazing in warm pools putting the world to rights with various others, it was so relaxing and just what we needed. John is now cooking tea ... mussel sausages ... what else?!

We have now ticked off the following: #51 Karangahake Gorge, #55 Hot Water Beach and #65 Coromandel Township. Before you say anything, we don’t expect to complete all 101 - mainly because many consist of bungy jumping, white water rafting, skydiving, or, goodness forbid, nocturnal walks! We’ll be leaving that sort of thing to the Moormans of this world!!

And what of the Mussel Sausages? Well, while smoked mussels in garlic provoked a definite “WOW”, these trigger “interesting!” Slightly softer in texture than a really good sausage, the Mussel certainly helped lift this above a standard beef sausage (the main type of sausage here) - certainly worth having again but not the same league as Craskes and Revetts! And if I’m to have mussels again, I’d rather have them smoked or in cider!!

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