Opotiki to Whakatane

Well, we are creeping closer and closer north and are currently situated in a carpark in Whakatane. The night we spent in Gisborne was not one of our best with Rose exhibiting signs that her reflux was bothering her. We had decided to try a raw dog meat shop near the Napier NZMCA and in hindsight should have continued doing our own (we know the meat is for human consumption) She was sick several times once in her bed and down the side of ours which meant an extra laundry trip the next day.

The trip from Gisborne to Opotiki was beautiful particularly through the gorge and we decided to take a pitstop so MacRose could take a break however as we pulled in to an beautifully landscaped rest area we saw that some cretin had obviously butchered a goat there and left  a leg and some meat/entrails all over the place.

On arrival in Opotiki we went on a laundry hunt taking the dogs with us. We eventually found one and I proceeded to prepare the laundry for washing only to have poor Rosie throw up again just outside on the pavement which meant a clean-up. Rod took them back to Dogonit while I finished the laundry. We fed Mac & Rose the dog food we had prepared and Rosie has been full of beans since so we are relieved and have learned out lesson.

Opotiki was kind of non-event in that we stayed in the NZMCA grounds most of the time except when Rod took them for their early morning walk.

The photo below will have all the lodge members rolling over in their graves.

We left and continued on to Whakatane and contacted Kathy and Terry as promised; that we were in the area. Kathy turned up just after lunch and took us on a sighseeing tour of the area including their beautiful art deco home which left us feeling envious (especially the media room and bar). We visited Terry in his ‘mancave’ race car workshop and then Kathy dropped us off at Dogonit. They invited us to dinner and following the meal we had after-dinner drinks in Dogonit. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were really appreciative of their hospitality. Thanks Kathy and Terry!!

Our pitstop here in Whakatane is a freedom park in a carpark 5 minutes walk to the main centre. The 5 x designated parks are RV parking only and there is a WSS right on site. Well done Whakatane; we are most impressed!!