bay of plenty

oh roto-rooter (as theresa says). if only you were sunnier, how we would enjoy you. we were able to walk around the lake and thermal areas, which are a bit like yellowstone - sulfur smell and all - but a bit stinkier if you ask me. the sun did manage to peak out temporarily, but unfortunately it started to drizzle a bit more than we were comfortable with, so we cut our trail short. we had a lot of driving a head of us, anyway.

first up, a town called turanga where we were able to climb mt. maunganui to get a nice view of the bay and watch a few surfers catching waves (always a pleasure..). the hike started out okay, though again, wearing flip flops - not the greatest traction on rocky and loose gravel pathways that lead to jagged cliffs to the ocean.. we did fine, until it started to sprinkle a bit - and again we had to make a call; press on and risk a downpour, or turn around now to be safe. we turned around. i think the previous week took all risk taking out of our systems.

so back to the car we headed, and hit up a town called te puke, which is the self-proclaimed "kiwi capital of the world". we walked around the town, but didn't find anything particularly kiwi related. hmm. so off to the primary tourist attraction, the kiwi 360, which was basically a gigantic souvenir shop. i did get my kiwi cutter though, a bargain at $0.50. the most disappointing thing however was that they advertised kiwi ice cream on a giant sign with arrows guiding your way to the cafe. so, with great anticipation we followed the arrows, only to come to the cafe that said "closed for private function". way cool, te puke. way cool. though i must admit the 'clever kiwi..' road signs were indeed, clever. foreign countries always have much more interesting PSAs than we do in the states.

peaced out of the non-kiwi capital, and drove to whakatane, where we officially entered the bay of plenty. named because of the abundant sunshine and miles of glorious sandy beaches, our fingers were crossed that finally we would see some nice weather. while it wasn't miserably raining, it wasn't sunny either. oh well - it can always be worse! walked around the town, which was pretty cute, and found our way to NZ's finest fish and chips, which unfortunately was closed and has since been bought out. Now wally's on the wharf, we still got a good meal. mmm. was surprised by the fact the woman working the counter couldn't tell me the difference between the tarakihi and hoki fish. the only description she had was, "they are both white fish". amateur.

drove drove drove along some pretty coast line for about 3 hrs to our next and final destination for the day, hick's bay. the distance itself wasn't too bad, but the roads are windy and you can't pick up any real speed. we stayed at mel's place, and after getting lost a couple times, finally found our way there. turns out mel and joe are maori and they basically rent out their home to travelers. it was definitely a unique and interesting experience. again, touched by the friendliness of the new zealand people. as well as the fact we needed a flashlight to see in the outhouse (yes, i said outhouse) and shower/sink stall. the plan was to wake up at 5am to make it to the east cape lighthouse to catch the first sunrise in nz, but none of us had the energy to complete the task. the sunrise over the bay was just as nice =)