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I was supposed to be going up to Auckland to see U2... who then canelled (well, hopefully postponed to November but that's another story!):0( As I had already paid for a flight from Auckland down to Christchurch to meet Helen for our weee South Island road trip (that'll be the next blog!!) and I couldn't change it, I thought I'd go up anyway and spend a few days visiting the Coromandel Penninsula... one of the places that I really wanted to see but hadn't had the chance yet. I was really glad that I did - they were having a mini heat wave so I spent 3 days sunbathing on the beach!! Much more fun that the rain and wind I'd left down in Welly!

I hired a car from Auckland and drove to a place called Thames for my first night. Thames is at the base of the peninsula and is the main service town. There's not too much to keep you in Thames but I got to see the most georgous sunset and the hostel I was in was quite empty so I had a dorm room to myself!!! I'd been doing the leaving drinks thing a bit too well over the last few weeks so it was nice to finally get a good nights sleep!!On the second day I headed north towards Coromandel town. The drive was lovely - lots of views of some beautiful coastal scenery. After a quick coffee stop and browse in the craft shops at Coromandel Town I continued accross to the west coast and eventually a place called Hahei where I planned to stay the night. To recover from the long drive (well, it took some 3 hours...) I spent the afternoon lazing on the really quite empty beach with my book and an ice cream! The next morning I walked along the coast to Cathedral Cove - about a 40 mins walk from Hahei. It is a beautiful spot, but it seemed like half of Germany was on the beach!! OK a slight exaggeration perhaps but for a small beach it was heaving. Rather than staying with the crowds I opted to take my book elsewhere and drove further down the coast to a tiny place called Opoutere. 4km of fantastic beach with only me an a few surfers (maybe 1km away) on it!! Much more like it!!! After a night there it was back to Auckland and the off to Christchurch.

Next up.... penguins, seals and drinking with the locals on Stewart Island!

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