October 22 Tauranga to Te Araroa

Left Tauranga and picked up Route 2, Te Puke, Whakatane, Opotiki, Te Kaha and over the top of the East Cape to Te Araroa. Coming down the hill out of Hicks Bay I hit a swam of bee’s that covered both sides of the road. I’ve never see a mass of bee’s like this and believe me you are not stopping on this one. Got to the bottom of the hill and I spent 10 minutes just scraping the bees off me. What an experience! The first caravan site was nice but the locals just took too much interest in my gear. Knowing that something was going to be missing by morning it was out and further down the road to another site. Again I was the only one out there with a tent. After everything was up, it was into town and a stop at the RSA, Retired Services Assoc (military), for a proper pint and a bag of chips.