Feb 7 late afternoon

Drove out to the Whirinaki Forest to see Te Whaiti Nui-a-toi Canyon. Several miles on dirt road. A disappointment. Just like the arch at Lone Pine. It's the calendar photograph that sparks my imagination, gets me going on vacation, but (in this case) I can't get a good photo of my own. At Lone Pine, it was a high creek blocking me. Here the bridge was high above the river, with trees blocking the view down. There's probably a way along the cliffs and down to a good lookout, but I didn't want to go tromping through strange bush today.

(Chunlin's photo above)


(Chunlin's photos above)

We're now down in Rotorua. Finally a hotel has messed up my reservation. I was waiting for it. New owner lost my booking. We have a twin instead of a double. He took $5 off the twin price, but it's still separate beds and bathroom down the way. Fun cowboy theme, though. My hat fits right in.

Walked down to the Pig & Whistle for a free beer. Bldg used to be the police station. Quote on the wall said it had been mistaken for a bank, a tourist office, a library, and even a church, but never a pub yet. That was in 1940. A nice bit of irony there.

Over to the city park for flowers and bubbling lakes, nicely mown lawn. Now we're awaiting the bus to our hangi dinner.