Waihi, Mt Maunganui and Rotorua

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Me again, you cannot beat free internet access in McDonalds.

We headed towards Waihi Beach via Paeroa (mining place), stopped in Te Aroha which is very strange little town. It reminded me of cowboy films. They have got Got to the beach at about 6pm. It was too windy and too cold for me to go and try the water however the beach was full of locals, surfing, fishing, playing rugby, cycling and strolling on the beach. We managed to photograph an amazing sunset.

I "survived" the first night in the campervan which was surprisingly very comfortable! It might be quite hard for some people to adjust to this way of life.

We headed towards Mauao which is photographed everywhere in brochures and calendars. It was raining pretty much the whole day but guess what...we went swimming! Mount Maunganui is the surfers' paradise and Lucas wants to buy a surf board. We went up the Mauao which gave us lovely views. We stopped for fish and Kumara chips which are sweet potatoes grown in NZ. Amazing! Also saw a poster for NZ Police Recruitment!!!

We drove to Rotorua via Te Puke where they grow kiwis as it is the ideal place. They have a gold kiwi here too. Rotorua is a spa town, really beautiful with a Rotorua Lake views. We went to Polynesian Spa with thermal baths - we stayed there for three hours! We parked in the Government Gardens. Rotorua is a place with lots of geothermal sites.

We are staying in Rotorua for a bit. Just hope the weather gets better....

I apologise for not be able to respond to Facebook messages but the time and battery is very limited! xxx

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