For the first time, the weather forecast was actually right - sadly.
I hopped on the bus over to the mount anyway and decided to give the base walking track a whirl, as i figured that was a good way to test out my ankle. The sea was pretty impressive in the wind, and all I can say is I'm very glad I wasn't out there on the water!
Look at this random sheep along the walk!
a random statue!
It quickly became clear the track to the summit was bad, a few of the paths leading up there were closed off as the strong wind, and persistent rain were set to last the day
(just after i took this photo they put a sign up advising people not to go up)
By the time I finished the first path there was a sign
telling people not to attempt the summit. Which was bittersweet, on the one
hand it saved me from having to make the decision of whether or not my ankle
was up to it, but on the other I really wanted to go up!
It was surprisingly busy around Mt Maunganui – there were
tons of people braving the blustery weather to walk along the beach. And there
were even some people surfboarding!
(I thought this was cool!)
I didn’t spend too much time on the beach since I’d
sunbathed there before with the Girls on a weekend trip and it was damn cold - instead I headed to
the tiny shopping street!
Its almost entirely privately owned businesses, most of
the selling a bizarre assortment of knick-knacks.
(this is typical NZ btw, a house selling grapefruit from the gate and just trusting people to pay)
That’s it for today, I caught the bus back when it was
starting to get dark and now I’m in my room typing this up while new people
move in!
