Saturday I was up early, sorting photos to send some to Laura of the time she was with us. It was a sunny and cloudy sort of morning with the wind persisting from the north east. At 11am it was 18 degrees outside. About midday we took the car back to Whangaroa, a small settlement on the Whangaroa Harbour. There is a very original general store there, selling Saturday Heralds and Keripie pies. The smell of the pies was too much and it was lunchtime. Mine was steak and bacon and mushrooms and was very good. Above the town is St Pauls Rock, a volcanic lump that is very prominent. We drove up to a carpark and walked up the track to the top. Getting up the rock outcrop is fun; there is a scramble up a 5m gut with chains to hang on to. By this time there was a bit of rain and a keen wind. The view from the top was definitely 360 degrees. The entrance to the harbour was hidden by an island; it must have been a surprise to the first sailors to discover the size of the harbour beyond the narrow heads and the island.
Back at Tauranga Bay we passed the afternoon starting on the newspaper and I had a snooze. Wyn roasted veges for tea to go with some marinated venison; rather nice J Later we watched the early stages of TV3’s telethon.