Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Penultimate Day on Aotea Great Barrier Island

Today is Thursday and I am on the 3pm ferry back to the mainland tomorrow from Tryphena and I have just got stung by a wasp or a bee! First time in years, will teach me to go barefoot (not!).

Anyway…..Tuesday I decided to wander up to the Kaitoke Hot Springs and have a bit of a soak, though should have done it while my legs were still sore from the trip to Mt Heale hut!

It is a lovely flat walk up to the hot springs, the path meanders alongside the stream and then takes a diversion through the amazing Kaitoke wetlands.

On arrival there I had a bit of a wander upstream a bit and found a very interesting little pool to have a swim in, just the perfect temperature!

It was a lovely hour spent up in the solitude of the bus with just the tinkling of the water over the small falls and the birds. From there I wandered back to the main pools and had a bit of a soak there in a slightly hotter pool and then lunched.

From there I decided to have a look further up the track towards the Tramline Track and see what it was like…..

and yes more of those damn stairs. Still it was a lovely wander and some fantastic views again.

On return I dropped in to AoteaFM community radio station to say thanks for the amazingly eclectic music that I have been able to listen to while here.

On the way back to Medlands I had to stop at the top of the hill between Claris and Medlands to take a picture of the surf

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Yesterday it rained… after I had done the washing!

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but it cleared up later for me to get it all dried and to take a walk along the same stretch of beach I had seen from the lookout the day before. As I started off I noticed an interesting ship doing circles in the distance….

I believe that it is the same vessel that I saw heading into Devonport while I was waiting for the ferry in Auckland.

There were some interesting inhabitants on the way up the beach as well as some interesting structures..

So today has been a bit of a rest and housework day, getting things back into some semblance of order and cleaning the bus. There has been a lot of dusting and wiping of surfaces happening!

While I was taking a bit of a breather, this fellow took my interest.

Not sure who he is but I shall have to look him up in the book….

So that’s just about it from the Barrier, I will be heading to Tryphena tomorrow morning and having a wander around there until sailing time. Hopefully the weather will have calmed down a bit for the sailing back!