Day 11

Te Puke to Rotorua 65km

I got up quite early and was out of Te Puke with the sun. The campground there was kind of scuzzy, right next to the road. The town itself was something of a dilapidated sawmill community with nowhere good to eat. On the way out of town and along the road I could not help but notice the large number of logging trucks headed to and from my proposed destination. Additionally the weather report called for thunderstorms and more ominously hail in Whaketane. I'm prepared for rain but my experience of hail on a bike has not been a good one. Given this journey doesn't actually involve a destination, I ended up turning south and heading to Rotorua. The route was nice and not too busy of a road. The weather called for thunderstorms across the entire north island in the afternoon but as I arrived around 1:00pm there were but a few clouds in the sky.

The weather has been great so far. I had read many accounts of lots and lots of rain. As I was watching the weather before I left it did indeed appear to rain daily through the month of November. However as of mid December hardly any has fallen. Indeed the lack of rain is becoming something of an issue for the people here. The large cattle and sheep industry is facing something of a crisis as the food supply for the animals dries up. It is interesting to note that the subject of climate change, as evidenced by the various newspaper articles I've read is widely considered one of obvious fact. In contrast to the US where it seems--at least for FoxNews and the Sens Inhofe types--a political issue. In defense of Sen Inhofe who while clearly a scientific illiterate has used the issue to great political advantage. Perhaps less so when and if Oklahoma becomes a dust bowl.

Anyway, Rotorua is an interesting town. Peddallers' paradise calls it steeped in Maori culture but claims 'the place stinks'. Upon entering town I discovered this later statement to be one of fact rather than general opinion. There is clearly some geothemal activity of a sulphuric nature going on somewhere. I looked into experiencing some of the Maori culture, but a Hagi (Maori feast and show of some sort) in addition to being very expensive looked rather touristy. I'd rather not participate in touristy events so instead I went to the cinema and saw Avatar (again).