Our day started a bit cloudy in the car park in Te Kauwhata, where we wanted to get something for breakfast. This sounds very simple, but because Jana is vegetarian and most New Zealand bakeries only sell one or two vegetarian dishes (if any) besides sweet pastries, it took us a long time until Jana bought an ice chai latte and a sandwich, and I bought a filled roll. We also took a large cheese-topped bread to share.
With our breakfast, we sat by the lake in the town and enjoyed not having to eat toast with jam.
Afterwards, we continued to Tauranga, where we briefly sat on the beach and searched for shells, and then climbed the surrounding rocks a bit until we found a suitable spot where we stayed for about an hour and enjoyed the view of the turquoise sea and the radiant sun. Of course, we also took a few photos here before we climbed up the cliff and, with some fear of heights, looked deep down at the sea.
Before driving to our next campsite, we actually wanted to eat something in Tauranga, but after feeling like we had checked all the restaurants, cafes and bakeries, we were disappointed to find that everything was closed, too expensive, or simply not to our taste. So we decided to eat the bread we bought in the morning and some toast with avocado, and then go shopping in Matamata, where we wanted to stay next.
When we finally arrived at the campsite, which was actually a garden attached to a farm where you could park your car for eight dollars, the owner hastily explained where we should best park our car and where the showers and toilets were. So we drove through a gate into the garden and paid for one night. Only then did we realize that we actually wanted to go shopping and noticed after a short research that the nearest supermarket could not be reached on foot. But since we didn't want to ask the owner, who seemed a bit unsympathetic, if it would be possible to drive away again, we had to eat white bread with jam (once again) and a fruit salad consisting of apples, a pear and two oranges that did not really fill us up. As a result, our dissatisfaction increased a bit, and it didn't get any better when we found out that a hot shower for five minutes would cost two dollars. But we felt it was necessary to shower again, so we reluctantly paid for it. Afterward, Jana set out to book the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, which was why we came to Matamata, but that also went wrong. The last action of the evening was to wash our laundry, or rather, what was most important, again. Jana accidentally didn't close her tube of detergent and completely splashed herself with it, which unexpectedly lifted the mood (at least for me). Shortly after, we went to bed somewhat better-tempered than before, but not without eagerly looking forward to the next day.
