Hanging out in Waihi

Georgia, Amy and Cassie as well, no doubt, as many helpful neighbours and the local council have done a remarkable job cleaning up and clearing out their house and garden there.  You still have to watch where you're parking your bum as there's always a chance that your chosen seat is already occupied by a very even-tempered greyhound but it was a perfect spot to kick back after that flight.  You also need to watch where you step in the back paddock as, courtesy of an unexpected visit from Basil, there are now more sheep up there than there used to be.  No social whirl, no wild assaults on vertical peaks, just hanging out with some bush walks, a splosh in the sea or two and the inevitable jigsaw (the one Susan had given me for Christmas - tag, you're it, George).
I got there on Wednesday and demanded a hike to a waterfall on Thursday to blow away the cobwebs.  About halfway up, it became evident that I wasn't up to it and the slight sore throat I'd felt on the plane and attributed to the dry air had grown into a nasty cough.  Typical.  Still we had a nice chat with the park ranger at the bottom of the track who told us all about the local farmer who wanted to open an ice cream stand about 20 minutes hike (not stroll!) from the car park.
Not a lot of potential customers maybe but I bet pretty much everyone who goes that way will buy an ice cream either on the up journey or the down.
On Friday we took it easy with a pretty level 3.5km walk through the Karangahake Gorge, old gold mining territory.  Picture on the right is taken in the train tunnel.  Note (a) light at the end thereof and (b) lack of tracks and hence lack of trains.
A delicious lunch at the Falls Cafe went down well though I thought I was starting to feel pretty dodgy.  I ate only about a third of the brilliant curry from the Tandoori Chambers in Waihi  that evening and was now firmly convinced I was crook.  12 hours sleep on Friday night left me feeling worse and not relishing driving to Auckland but Amy bravely stepped into the breech and the driver's seat of George's Audi and we all made it in one piece.

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