Back to where we belong!

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After the rain of yesterday we woke up a little despondant as it was still chucking it down!!!! Eau de egg was still hanging in the air but we had had a good nights sleep and were not going to let the weather get us down!!! We has decided that we were going to go to Te Pui first which is in Rotarua and is all about Mauri Culture. As we pulled up it seemed very touristy and the rain was really lashing down - we made it to the gate but we didn't go in and turned back to the warmth and dry of the car - we decided that today was not the day to be walking round in the yukky weather taking in culture!!! We drove to the next stop which was called 'Hells Gate' - now, the literature promised that this was the best geothermal activity in the whole area so we were very excited. As we got our ticket I asked the girl whether we were going to see any geezer action - only to be told that they did not have them here and that we would just see the bubbling streams and mud!!! Oh well, we thought and went in anyway.....! It was really good and the mud was really weird just quietly bubbling away but in the rain it just isn't as much fun and also the stink here was incredible and it just seemed to permiate your skin!!!!!!
After walking round we decided that we were going to make our way to the coast as the clouds were really low and hugging the mountains - we thought that if there was a chance that we were going to see the sun then the coast would probably be the best bet. After about an hour or so's drive we got to Tauronga which is a largish coastal town - we had a walk along the front and a quick drink - yes - in the sunshine!!!!!!! and apart from the lingering egg smell knew that we had made the right decision. We then crossed the bridge to go and have a look at Mount Maunganui, very lovely and for the first time since Melbourne we were by the ocean!!! It really confirmed the fact that we truely are water lovers and although it was blowing the most almighty hoolie - the sun was shining, the waves were crashing and we were two happy bunnies!
We knew that we were not going to stay here and had Whangamata on our minds. This was described in the book as 'an idylic beach side resort with both surfing beaches and swimming!!' This was our place!!! Anyway I had been doing all the driving so we swapped about 30kms from the resort as I was getting tired and a bit of cabin fever having being driving for so long!!!! Unfortunately for Woody I had been driving on all the relativly straight roads and as soon as we swapped he had to negotiate about 20km of hair pin bends through the forest!!!! It was all worth it though as when we arrived the coast line was amazing and although it had started to spit it was a lovely little town. We set about the task of finding somewhere to stay and Woody found a lovely sounding motel called Le Dolche Vita - the lady was just arriving back with her shoppig as we pulled up and she had vacancies!!! We were not sure whether we were staying one night or two but she put us in for two 'just in case!!' After relaxing and watching the rain clear for a couple of hours we felt refreshed and after fish and chips and a lovely long walk along an almost deserted beach we knew that there was no way that we could pack up again and move on. The sea in the evening was amazing, loads of surfers, swimmers and more mature people boogie boarding like it was their last night - it was hilarious and there was a really good feel about everything.
We went to bed happy knowing that we did not have to get up in the mornining at a ridiculous time (the last time we had a lie in was Melbourne!!)

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Photos

pic 1
Did we mention that it was raining and we were not happy ?!?!?

pic 2
Hells Gate. No gushing and very stinky

pic 3
The beach at Whangmata