The Coromandel Peninsula - A memory (and souvenir) which will last forever . . .


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Published: October 20th 2010
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Continuing on from our previous blog, after driving back through Auckland we had decided to head east and then back up the coast to a region called the Coromandel Peninsula. Looking at a map of the north island of NZ, this is the part which slightly bends away from the main land area and there is a very scenic ring road (freeway 25) which follows the coastline in a huge loop passing through various town - In a way, similar to it’s UK namesake ‘M25’ but with the added bonus of no traffic, beautiful forest on one side and crashing waves against sandy beaches or rugged cliffs on the other (so in actual fact, nothing like it at all). Our initial plan was to make our way to the starting point of this loop, Thames and stay there the night and then make our way north up the west side of this coast to Coromandel Town before crossing east and visiting Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove and Whitianga. However, Scott - in Eric the Rocket, had made good time and as there was not much to see in Thames itself so we decided to continue up the coast as it was a lovely evening with a nice sunset and managed to make it to a tiny town called ‘Tapu’ (which is half way between Thames and Coromandel Town) before it started to get too dark to continue, especially as they were very narrow winding roads. This is where we first experienced ‘free parking’ and pulled up on the seafront just in front of a big campsite. Scott had fun trying to cook risotto on the gas canister in gale force winds which kept blowing out the flame - however once it was cooked, it was really tasty, even though it was more of side meal as Scott had spilt quite a bit as he was cooking in the dark.

The next morning, after waking up to the sight of the sea (and thousands of ducks?!) and a quick bowl of Cornflakes, we continued with our journey in the van up to Cormandel Town, where we had planned to stop for a coffee and look around as it was supposed to be fairly nice. We arrived early so a lot of shops were shut and as the weather was awful and we had heard it was sunny on the other side we decided to get a move on to Whitianga - but not before a moment of random madness. As we left the coffee shop and headed back to our van, we both noticed a traditional Maori New Zealander with tattoos all over his face outside a tattoo shop, after trying not to look, he cracked a joke and we started talking to him about the area, his ‘artwork’ and what he does. After listening to several interesting tales about his heritage and why he has the markings - along with their meanings, we left and said our goodbyes and he joked and said if we every wanted any tattoos we were welcome back - we both laughed as we headed back to the van. We were just about to pull away, when Scott either through lack of sleep, a caffeine rush or just the fact he wanted to do something on the spur of the moment declared that he wanted to have something to remember this great trip by and get a small tattoo. With that, Vic’s (surprisingly) leapt out of the van and ran back down the street and asked the guy how much it would cost. When Scott saw her coming back grinning he was slightly perplexed especially when she declared she too wanted one! So we both went into the tattoo shop and told the guy, who was really friendly and professional, what we wanted and where, expecting him to just do it, but he was so nice and made sure we were sure, asked us why we wanted them, what they meant to us etc, and generally cared about us rather than the money which confirmed our decisions to get our first ever tattoos with him. We both got small stars (Scott’s is on his foot above one of his many scars, and Vics is on the inside of her wrist) which we had actually talked about at home (and they are really small don’t worry!) and it was really special to us to have them done together, on this amazing once in a lifetime trip, in a country we really love, by such a traditional New Zealander. After he did them (which only took about 10 minutes each as they are really small, about the size of a 5p piece if not smaller) his wife, who is also a traditional Maori with tattoos on her face, came over to inspect them and clean them before giving us the ok to go.

Pumped from what we had just done, we ran back to the van and smiled for the rest of the journey! We drove to Whitianga to get some information on the surrounding beaches, mainly Hot Water Beach (HWB), as on this beach 2 hours either side of low tide you can dig your own hot pool in the sand! Unfortunately low tide wasn’t until 9pm that night but we were told it was a nice beach anyway and the weather was good so we headed over there. On the way we stopped at a beach town called Hahei where they have a 45 minute trek along a beautiful coastal stretch to the secluded Cathedral Cove (this has featured in several Hollywood movies). When we started walking this route it was sunny but not that hot and we weren’t sure what to expect at the end, but within minutes it was about 25 degrees and when we reached Cathedral Cove it was actually the most beautiful beach we had ever seen! The sand was so white and the water was turquoise blue, it was amazing and again we really didn’t think we would see anything like this in NZ, let alone enjoy the good weather we were experiencing. We were gutted we left our towels and swim wear in the van as we would have sat on that beach for the rest of the day, but we still managed an hour in the sun before the trek back up to the van.

After driving towards HWB we came across a rest stop on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sandy bays off the coast so we stopped and got out our bits for lunch as it was so picturesque and we were the only ones there. We cooked up a feast on the gas canister of pasta and sauce with a slice of bread and sat on our fold up chairs in the sun thinking how amazing this country is and how we wish we could spend longer here seeing more of what it has to offer. After packing up we then set off to HWB but the weather had started to turn cloudy and as we couldn’t dig our own hot pools (main reason for going there)we carried on heading south again to our next destination of Hamilton, a big town about 3.5 hours away . . .




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21st October 2010

OMG!!!!!
OMG!!!! You got a tattoo!!! Yay!!!!!!!!! But trust me now you've had one you want another one. Glad your having an amazing time. See you when your back xx
21st October 2010

TATTOOS - WOW
The first Soraf with a tattoo!!!! Can't wait to see both of your new body artwork. Probably will not tell Jack just yet. Another amazing experiencing for you guys. I am so glad you are doing so many 'non-touristy' things. Will be discussing the virtues of tattoos with Anthony thins evening! Love you both. Can't wait for next instalment. Love you both xxxxx
21st October 2010

Australia
I hear you had a brilliant time in New Zealand and in a few days you are heading to Australia. Enjoy. Ps. Make sure you see some Koalas mate!!!!
22nd October 2010

that is so cool you got a Maori Tattoo!!! such a good way to remember your amazing trip together !!! lots of love xxx
22nd October 2010

TATOO??????????
OMG!!!!!!!!! Wow! I can't believe it guys, especially you vix!!!!! but how amazing and something you guys will share and remember forever :)))) and if you were getting anything, stars is the best choice! i have a 'thing' for stars so it made me smile to know you'd both chosen that! NZ sounds amazing and really beautiful! well... i'm going to now read your next blog. think it's about Hamilton?! Glad you're both well in your campervan! :D love you xx
7th December 2011

this is so funny.
it was a privilege and a pleasure meeting you both.
7th December 2011

this is so funny.
it was a privilege and a pleasure meeting you both.

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