Was an absolute delight to wake to the sound of nature (with a hint of a distant motorway).
It seems that there were only 3 residents in Pin Oak and all dispersed nicely to avoid any neighbour disturbance.
The sun was shining and not a care in the world
Getting to the Pin Oak campsite at McLaren Falls was one thing, going down was another.
Whilst we knew it was safe, it looked scary, very winding, narrow and steep lanes to drive down. I think I might have been responsible for the odd gust or two but luckily Tiina was to focused on driving to notice.
Onward to Miranda Park with a couple of planned stops.
We arrived at the delightful Waihi and had a bite to eat at the Ti Tree Cafe – very nice and highly recommended.
A stroll through Waihi to soak up some of the old gold mining history and then a stop at a leather store to buy a new wallet for me. Ironically I forgot my wallet in the campervan so Tiina had to pay (tee hee!).
Tiina was keen to stop off in the Karangahake Gorge and man, it was amazing!.
The gorge itself is a torrent of water thrusting through wide expanses of the gorge to narrow squeezes – you cant help but wonder at the amount of water thundering by each second – and it just keeps on doing it!
What was not to be missed though was the walk .. starting with a 1,1km railway tunnel – not for the claustrophobic – on up to the Window Walk which gives a birds eye view of the gorge and then, definitely not for the claustrophobic is the bit where you walk into an unlit mine to get to the windows.
It’s a little spooky and not as long as it feels but well worth doing.
Our final destination for the day was to be Orere Point but we’d both reach our limit of travel for the day and pointed at Miranda Holiday park.
We got luck last parking at the site but were too knackered to look around at the facilities. We hit the sack with our minds on our second to last day making our way up north…
Mal and Tiina 