Waihau Bay to Whakatane

 


Storm damage meant SH35 is closed from Opotiki to Waihau Bay, and the wee shuttle bus couldn't operate.

Luckily Dane, a local, drove me as far as this slip and I simply walked onwards, watched by drivers of going-nowhere utes.


I wandered past Whanarua Bay and  the campground I'd hoped to use (closed) and was somewhere near Te Kaha 


when 4 utes came up behind me. One turned back, did I want a lift?

Turns out Paul had just piloted 9 vehicles with 4 portable classrooms to Whangaparoa School and was returning to Auckland. They'd seen me cross that slip, waited for a fierce landowner to turn around, and gunned it through her paddock.


We drove through many more slips while I mulled what to do. When we encountered an iwi roadblock, that decided me. Waikaremoana was off the menu.

So I'm in a Whakatane cafe, about to get  supplies and then hike to Awakeri. I've checked, I can camp at the springs tonight. About 15km, crazy day.

Early this morning I met kelp harvesters busy with storm booty. My logistical nightmare is their profitable morning!



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