March 24, 2024

Te Kaha to Rotorua

It has been raining on and off all night long, at times very hard. 

When we leave Te Kaha I see some dark clouds in the distance. It did not take long and we are caught in a heavy downpour. A car on the side of the road signals us to slow down. As soon as we come around the curve we know why. There is a tree across the road. We barely are able to pass it!!

Peter drives slowly  sometimes the water is just gushing over the road. We can literally observe what kind of damage the water causes and howl it washes out the roads.

It rains so hard for about an hour and then the sun comes out. 

When we get get to Whakatane we visit a park with some beautiful, very old trees, some over two thousand years..

There are beautiful sandy beaches in the Bay of Plenty and I decide to take a dip in the ocean. To my surprise the water was as warm as the outside temperature. 

Finally we visit this cute little chapel. Take a look how it has been reinforced inside and outside so the wind cannot uplift it.