A night of suspense turned into morning and the rocket launch was still going ahead… We took a spot by the road with a clear view to the hills we expected to see the rocket from. Mal had his laptop with live feed running from Rocket lab with him as well. As the countdown reached an end we desperately stared to the sky to spot the rocket. A bright spot of light emerged above the hill (Tiina thought it was a drone!) and slowly picked up speed, ending up with just a vapor trail. At this point we decided that this small spot of light was the rocket 🚀. Not quite as spectacular as expected and it would have been helpful to know that we were to look out for something this tiny! 😄
[mal] sad footnote is that the rocket was lost after about 5 minutes and fell back to earth so double whammy with failed mission 😢
Our next stop was Gisborne where after looking after the essentials of dumping waste water and doing more laundry we met another colleague, Miki for lunch.
Gisborne looked much nicer than what we remembered from 8 years ago and we decided that possibly we never even made it to the centre previously! It had the potential for another proper visit but again this time we continued north for the night, stopping at Tolaga Bay on the way.
Tokomaru Bay and the local Tavern ended up being our “home” for the night. They offered power and a scenic parking spot for a mere $15 and we enjoyed dinner at the Tavern as well.
Gorgeous full moon 
Massive meals! 
No Baileys so Kahlua and milk was given instead
Yet another example of small town new zealand offering lovely friendly welcome (including a hongi for Mal from old bro sitting at the bar.. I think he thought I was one of the people). Very nice to be welcomed with true tradition.
Mal and Tiina 