The next morning was bleak and cold. We had a walk around the block at the Taupo airport before finally heading on north. The new bypass means we can bypass Taupo so we did. Wyn did some more driving which meant I could do some more looking around – which is fun. It always surprises us how much more we can see from the truck. Sitting up higher makes a big difference.
Cabcam – SHI north of Taupo
There’s lots of trees up the road from Taupo
We’d always wanted to stop off in Tirau. It has a corrugated iron theme which is interesting. And looks interesting. So this trip we resolved to pass through Tirau and make a stop and have a walk through. And we did. It was cold and wet so we found a cafe with a nice warm fire for coffee and news.
Wyn in a nice Tirau cafe with a nice warm fire
It’s hard not to like a town that builds a giant corrugated iron dog for a visitor centre. Life on SH1 is all about getting a proportion of the traffic zooming through to stop long enough to spend some money. Well done Tirau.
Tirau visitor centre – the giant tin dog
Eventually we headed on north; over the Kaimais to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. It seemed sunnier and warmer – because it was. We made a last-minute decision and parked down by the harbour for the night. We’ve parked here a few times in previous years so it seemed a nice way to arrive back in Tauranga
Parked up down by the harbour at Tauranga
Gallery of photos – North Island June 2013
Click on thumbnails to see full size. (And then you can click through them)
