I got my things together and stored them away and headed to Burger King for some wifi. I was there quite some time and still had to stop at the merino icebreaker store. So I had to hurry to get my pack and rush to the bus stop. The bus was a double decker and hardly full. I sat up top and found that on the narrow, curvy roads out of town that the top of the bus is not the place to be. I saw many cows in pastures; dairy is a big NZ export. About 2.5 hours later I arrived in Waihi where Alison was waiting for me. She brought me to her hom, I met her husband David and I quickly found out that they are the sweetest couple. We chatted for a bit and exchanged NZ and AK info. It was nice to actually be able to sit down and have a long discussion about the country with people that know a lot about it.
We soon headed towards the beach for dinner at a buffet-style place. We had amazing lamb, beef, kumara, couscous, and salad. The view of the water was great. We decided to go down to another spot for coffee and dessert. It was called Flat White, an adorable restaurant closer down on the beach. Apparently it's critically acclaimed. The coffee was good and the lemon cheesecake cup was even better. Back at the house, we chatted a bit more and finally went off to bed. After a couple nights on an awful hostel bunk and mattress, a real bed was unbelievable.
