Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

The sun appeared on the horizon at 6:33, as planned, and we duly recorded the moment for posterity.  Five minutes later it was behind a cloud (the sun, not posterity).  Just to be fair, we’d snapped the moon the previous evening as it was lovely.  The photos don’t do justice to either event.

Then we were back on SH2, which swings inland to follow the Waioeka Gorge, while the Pacific Coast Highway takes the scenic route along the coast.  For a long time we were aware of climbing gradually but with fields or woodlands on either side of the road there wasn’t much to see.  The we suddenly found ourselves looking out over the countryside, with a rainbow for company.  As you can see from the photo, the land is very dry as there’s been no rain.  But where we go, so does the rain, so this will be green by tomorrow.

Unlike previous passes, there are very few hairpin bends. Most of the time there are long, sweeping curves, as the river meanders between the mountains on either side.  It really is quite spectacular.  And wearing if you’re driving.  When we were in South Island, we came across picnic places, towns and villages regularly along the route, so there were plenty of opportunities for a break.  This hasn’t been true of North Island, at least as far as SH2 is concerned; most places seem to have been bypassed, so finding a coffee or meal isn’t easy.

We swapped SH2 for SH30 at Awakeri and headed west towards Rotorua.  The road skirts the southern shores of lakes Rotoma, Rotoehu and Rotoiti, giving brilliant views of all three before tracing the eastern shore of Lake Rotorua, the largest of them all.

The town itself is a bit of a tourist resort – so tomorrow we’re going to be tourists!