good as gold

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Having fuelled up on a "full works breakfast" at Rotorua's Fat Dog Cafe (can't find an accent aigu on this keyboard!) I went in search of my bus - it turns out schedules are handled in a very relaxed manner in this country and the bus left about half an hour too late, the driver casually checking in travellers as if there was all the time in the world. Knowing I only had 10 mins to catch my connecting bus in Tauranga I got pannicky. How was I to know he'd wait for me? Anyway - all went well and after 5 hours, 3 buses and a windy scenic drive through rain and shine on the Coromandel peninsula (enhanced by the lively commentary of the driver, obviously very keen to pass on his knowledge) I arrived at Coromandel town. Hm, perhaps town is overdoing it a bit, it's rather a small and certainly a laid back place. In it's heyday it was a thriving gold mining town - but not much of that heritage remains, except the gold stamper battery (which was closed when I got there) and a little interesting museum in the old Gold miner's school (the old jailhouse is to the back of the school). Some of the pretty victorian houses with verandahs and carving round the roofs remain, but most are newer properties.

The hostel (Anchorlodge motel) is great, except for the room - which is too small to swing a cat, and there are six of us sharing...
There is an outdoor spa (we would call it a whirlpool) and a miniscule swimming pool, that is good for four strokes in one direction. Better than nothing though. Disappointing though, that you can't really get to the sea from here - there's just a mud bank with lots of bushes.

The highlight of yesterday (monday) was my supper, which I had in a super place called the Success Cafe: coromandel mussels in a white wine and chilli sauce, followed by sticky date pudding swimming in butterscotch sauce!!! delicious, and only 20 bucks for the lot (that's about 10,5 EUR).

This morning (btw it's Waitangi Day today, but everything continues as usual) I walked to the Driving Creek Railway, which is 3 km north of town. What an experience that was - it was definitely worth coming to coromandel, even though there's nothing much else to do round here. The railway was built by a potter from Auckland (Barry) during 27 years and is the only narrow gauge railway in NZ (38,5 cm wide). It should really be called "Driving Creak Railway", because it does make some rather disconcerting noises at times :-) The ride goes through gorgeous native bush (loads of ferns of course) and ends at the "Eyefulltower" - and you really do get an eyefull! The view over to the sea and mountains is gorgeous, although it was a bit cloudy today. You also go through some quirky tunnels and over several bridges and pass some rather nifty walls of glass bottles.

There were loads of people on the trains, and I wondered where they all crawled from, since I hadn't seen a soul all morning!

After a lot of walking I think a trip to the spa is in order, and then maybe another treat at the success cafe?
I'll try and put some photos on later, if I can find a USB port on this computer. [edit: this computer is too slow - I'll have to do the photos another time. Sorry 'bout that)

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