New Zealand Trip 2023 Day 13 ~ Quails Nest Eatery, Pouakai Circuit Reflective Tarn, Aotea Motor Lodge, Caroline's Boatshed Bar and Eatery

Day 13 started with breakfast at Quails Nest Eatery.

2 hot Americano.

Sticky Date Hot Cakes, served with maple syrup, Gold award-winning middle bacon, and butterscotch whipped butter.

Croissant Benedict with Baked New Zealand salmon

We tried our luck again at the Lake Mangamahoe Lookout without success.

We dropped by the famed Kent Road but again, there was no view of the mountain.

Our only hope left was the Pouakai Tarn hike.

Recalled turkey wasn't feeling well and felt really weak so though this hike was easy with mostly boardwalks, it was hard on him :(

Then it started pouring. We had initially set that if it continues to rain, we will turnback halfway as a lesson learnt from Rocky Mountain and Key Summit Hike.

Though the rain got heavier and was really foggy, we did not turn back.

It was still super foggy but we made it to the hut.

Stayed at the hut for about 30 mins but the foggy didnt clear up and we didnt get any views. But these 3 were just occupying the best warm seats throughout without sharing tsk.

We decided to head back down since the fog wasn't going away and the rain got lighter.

And we left the area. As we drove off, we kept looking back to see if we were able to see Mount Taranaki, unfortunately, not at all. When we were some distance away, we could see the bottom of the mountain but the top never made it's appearance.

So we continued our way to the Aotea Motor Lodge.

It has a spa bath which is weirdly placed beside the bed and outside the toilet lol.

Since there was a Pak n Save right opposite, we bought some groceries for breakfast the following day and pumped petrol.

Thereafter, we headed off for dinner at Caroline's Boatshed Bar and Eatery.

Recalled that I made a reservation but it wasn't captured and all the staff at the reception was "I don't have your reservation" -.-

I even showed my reservation email but there was no resolution given. Like excuse me? You should be offering something whether to somehow arrange a table or have me wait for the next table and not just no reservation, full stop.

Lucky another service staff came and sat us down almost right away. So why did she not offer when there's an available table?! Best was when she served us the scallop dish, she just slammed it on the table and walked off.

Food portions were generous, but the lady wait staff was terrible. The friendly guy who offered us the table made up for it though I was still pissed.

Dinner started with wine again.