OPOTIKI

SATURDAY, 19th October.

Leaving our very comfortable airb&b in Waihi Beach this morning, we made a beeline for the farmers' markets close by, a fairly small market with lots of good things but little that we needed.  We did buy a jar of delicious honey which will be devoured over the next few weeks.  Petrol is expensive here but unfortunately necessary, so we toughened ourselves up and filled the tank before hitting the open road.

We called in to Tauranga Port, hoping to find a cafe and to have a look at Mt Maunganui but it was not our day for either.  The 'Crown Princess' cruise ship was in port and the streets were chokkas with tourists, and locals, all the cafes we passed were full, we couldn't find a place within walking distance to park the car and we couldn't get close to Mt Manganui but we did see it in passing!

We left, reminding ourselves that 'we can't see everything' and headed off towards Opotiki.

The Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road is a 15km tolled section of State Highway 2 (SH2) running between the Domain Road interchange, near Papamoa, and the Paengaroa roundabout (SH2 and SH33 to Whakatane and Rotorua).  For light vehicles, such as our Toyota Corolla hire car, the toll is $2.30 but as we bought the ticket from a service station, ours cost $3.50.  After our little jaunt on the as yet unfinished motorway, and wanting a break from driving, we called in to a couple of beaches, hoping to find a cafe or pie shop.  We did have a break, and watched a couple of fishermen fishing,

and a train hauling logs,

and not long after, we reached the small town of Matata where we bought a Pat's Pie and a coffee each and sat by the lagoon to consume them.  (The sign on the wall of the shop stated that Pat's Pies were the best in the bay, but we though edible, we found them rather ordinary.)  Once again we attracted a crowd, a couple of geese and seagulls, but once again, we weren't sharing so they went on their way.  

 

It's not real!                            

  On the way to the Ohope Beach lookout, we passed a small shopping centre which advertised real fruit ice creams so Mike did a quick u-turn to the shop but unfortunately, the young lady serving at the counter spoke English with a very thick accent and neither of us could understand everything she said...I think she may have had a little problem with our Australian accents too,  The result was, we each had a normal ice cream, Mike a hokey and I a passionfruit, both of which were delicious.  The lookout was not far away so we made our way there, took photos

and continued on to Opotiki, with a brief stop at a salt marsh

Tree stumps

Pathway to the viewing spot.  The plaques indicate the burial place of the ashes of a husband and wife volunteer workers in the conservation of the area.

Next stop, Opotiki and our overnight stop in a holiday park where we recieved a hearty welcome by the managaress. The unit, small, old and tired (like us), but clean and adequate.  We sat outside in the sunshine for a while, did a load of washing and chilled out for the rest of the day.