Drove out of town to an ulu area where Colenso Cafe and Orchard is. Nice salad brunch with my roast pork being "the best Shao Rou" Ms Blur has ever had. Haha. Mandarin Orchard was also nice but that's only because the sun was smiling at us in the orchard.
First stop, Plan B
Fish-fillet lookalike roasted meat. Drooling as I type this
With a chill out zone. No one cos the sunny picture is slightly deceiving, it was a cold morning
Ah Dong and Ah Key was chilling when we reached then Ah Dong came over to us the second time we go to their barn and Ah Dong went Eeyoh Eeyoh like in the cartoons. First time hearing their call in real life and was quite fascinated by it to be honest.
Shen me Dong Dong
Anyway, we left the cafe to make full use of the elusive sun. Drove another hour to reach Karangahake Gorge where we walked an hour through the old railway track in this gold mining town. The 1km long tunnel was hippy but Ms Blur didn't like the creepiness of it.
Here we go...
Adventureeee!
Left over toys neh keep
Shallow but Super rapid
Xiao shag
And this, the creepy tunnel. Now after Train to Busan, it's slightly creepier than it was haha
I found these leftover rivets more creepy though
And the ruined power house. The Angmoh inside also creepy lol
No more creepy shot but the name is kinda creepy haha. Interesting find though; what's the electricity for? Hmmm (it's not automatic)
Survived the gorgeous gorge and reached our car just in time to siam the drizzle which became rain shortly.
And passed by Paeroa town! Just nice we had an L&P in our car so we spontaneously decided to stop for 10 minutes seeing the clouds were slightly slower than our car. Huge risk just for this photo
And history of this yummy and addictive but probably unhealthy drink haha
Drove away from the storm for another hour or so to finally check in at our last accommodation: Ibis Airport Budget Hotel!
First time camping at a hotel instead of the airport sofa for an early flight the next day. Dropped out luggage and headed out for dinner, trying our luck for Japanese food again after doing some research. But fate has it that we are really not destined for it; arrived at the restaurant to lights and humans within but it was a private function! They are closed on Sunday during winter! And so we left sort of dejected (though mentally prepared as I mentioned along the way about how it will be so darn dissatisfying if they were to be closed on Sunday... And they did).
Final dust. Staring into the runway we'll run away in the next day
Decided to vent our anger on KFC and I got a 3 piece and she got a 2 piece chicken. Not too bad a substitution I must say, at least they claimed that their chickens are locally farmed and not genetically modified.
Nomz
Some last minute shopping to help the duo get their honey that was confiscated at the custom (cos theirs weren't sealed) and small gifts for friends. And then it's back to chilling in the hotel lobby after we returned our car (and the rain stopped for us once again for us to walk back to our hotel just across the street!). And yup, as usual, spent the last night watching movie.
Bye bye~ thanks for serving us well and not failing in the middle of nowhere
Next morning was without drama; and one last thing before we leave NZ: Jap food. Persistency paid off, sort of.
Lol. One last try!
And it's time to bid goodbye~ till next time, Aoteroa!
Oh, and also two MacDonald's meal in Sydney airport cos everything else is just not worth it.
Aussie Angus at least haha. And pretending to be healthy with salad. Futile attempt at the end of the trip lol
