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We had an easy 76 km ride yesterday, mostly flat except for one bad climb just before entering Whakatane. We stopped for a roadside lunch in a pretty park in Whakatane. Several people wanted to explore a local arts and crafts exhibit located just across the street and several other of us were not that interested so we sat and chatted for a while but soon began to get bored of waiting around and decided to finish the last 30 km of the day. Eric, Mary and I left the others to enjoy the art and headed out. It has been a while since we have had to travel busy highways and it took some getting used to - the noise, the logging trucks speeding past, the narrow shoulders etc. The traffic noise was the worst.
The entrance into Kawerau was a shocker. This was our first glimpse of the uglier side of New Zealand - smoke belching form a huge lumber mill, stinky air, more noise. This mill stretched along the highway for at least a kilometer. Now we knew where all those logging trucks were going!
I'm glad we decided to follow Eric as he knew where our motel was as his maps were quite confusing. :) we arrived unscathed to our destination in Kawerau early enough to enjoy a long Happy Hour, a warm shower and then a hearty meal prepared by Carol and Martel.
I woke this morning refreshed and ready for our hike/ trek up to Tarawera Falls later today.
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