dst. (km)
Today	??.?
Trip total	??.?
Odometer	2996.9

Laziness got the better of me and I failed to write in my journal, hoping that memory would suffice when it came time to write about where I’d been. Unfortunately the days turn to weeks, then to months, and there is never enough time… When it does come time to write, I find that all the little details have faded away…

Much of today’s riding was through fruit and vegetable farms, including immense trellises of “kiwi fruit” — the highly successful marketing of what was previously known as the Chinese gooseberry!

A jet-boat ride at Paengaroa was included, the park was full of American tourists from the cruise liner berthed off the coast — all wearing spotless white casual clothes and speaking loudly. We laughed at the comments while getting into the jet-boat, people who complain that the life-jackets are wet and might soil their clothes, probably don’t realise what happens on a jet boat in a river…

Sure enough, some of them seemed to believe that it was to be a pleasant cruise through the forest — the reality came as a slight shock! Unfortunately Jo and I had picked the wrong boat, we had the older, more mellow driver, the other guy seemed completely wild and must have been having a ball soaking his passengers. Even a mild jet-boat pilot is a fairly wild person to be around, especially when sliding the boat through 360° spins in the middle of the river.

Where?

Whakatane(-37.9833333,177), Paengaroa(-39.0833333,176.25)