By January 2 we found ourselves at Ohope, sharing a beach house with the Gales as we have before, looking out at White Island (Whakaari) steaming away in the distance. It was of course the scene of the disaster less than a month ago which killed 20 tourists and locals, so we watched it with some interest in case of any further eruptions. James reassured us that the clouds we saw rising from the island were typical, and no cause for alarm.
Ohope provided plenty of relaxation, time spent walking, swimming, drinking coffee, and doing nothing. The sea temperature was quite acceptable, and some days there were good waves for boogie-boarding.
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| Plenty of room for everyone at Ohope Beach! |
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| A stroll along the shore of the inner harbour. |
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| Another hard day at the beach, looking out at Whale Island / Muotohora. |
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| Lisa and Sue test the temperature. |
Our friend from long ago, Greg, has just completed a nice new house on the hill above Ohope, and generously invited us all around for dinner.
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| Dinner at Greg and Faith's new place. |
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| Late afternoon sun, struggling to shine through the smoke from Australia's bush fires. |
One day we drove to the Tarawera Falls track, past Kawerau and at the end of a long, rough, unsealed road. That gave our cars a bit of battering, but the walk was worth it! The falls are unique because the Tarawera River disappears underground above the falls, and emerges from holes in a cliff to form the falls. Sue and I did come here many years ago, but the memories are dim.
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| Happy trampers - Adam, Lisa, and Brian |
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| It is fascinating seeing a river of such size disappearing into the ground. |
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| The start of the walk. |
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| Some local dancers. Tarawera Falls in the background. |
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| Some came prepared for a swim, some did not. |
We had initially planned to do the walk up to the falls, and maybe up to behind the falls to see the river going underground. We actually carried on and walked all the way to Lake Tarawera and back. Up at the lake it was very windy, but the rest of the way it was a sheltered walk in the bush. At the end of the day we crawled back along the long rutted road to Kawerau, then back to Ohope.
Another day we climbed the track over the headland to Otarawairere Bay, between Ohope and Whakatane.
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| Otarawaiwere Bay |
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| James was very interested in the wealth of turbidites visible in the rock face! |
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| The whole team. |
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| James and Adam closely watching our sausages at the BBQ. |
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| The "french" coffee cart just down the road became a favourite. Excellent croissants! |
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| Everyone at dinner in Ohope (Sue behind the camera). |
After Ohope the Gales set off for home; James headed east to take the long road home via East Cape; Lisa and Adam headed back to Auckland for work; and we set off for Muriwai, north-west of Auckland.
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| The hobbity information centre in Matamata! |
