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Published: January 21st 2011
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Coromandel Peninsula and Hamilton/Waitomo
Wednesday 12th January
Arrived in Whitianga about 8pm and went in search of food. The town is really quiet – we think there are a lot of empty holiday homes - and most restaurants seem to stop serving food by ~8:30. But the Indian restaurant lived up to expectations and served late – all the way to 9:30! Everything was closing by about 10pm.
Thursday 13th January
Slow start today after the long drive yesterday. Caught up with emails etc and then wandered around the shops in town. Peter is looking for some new sandals but there was nothing in stock for his size. NZers must all have small feet.
Drove out of town and around to Hahei where we walked to Cathedral Cove – a bay where the last beach can only be reached through a large limestone rock arch. A nice walk with great views along the coast. All the way along the path there were signs advising visitors not to walk through the arch - as there was a danger of rock falls. But of course everyone still does - ignoring the two thin ropes across the path.
Then went to
nearby Hot Water Beach. As the name suggests. for two hours either side of low tide you can find hot water oozing up from beneath the surface of the sand. It was 7pm and quite cool from the breeze along the beach but you could keep warm by standing above the hot patches of sand under the water as the tide went out. In some places the sand was too hot to stand on even in the water and you could see bubbles of CO2 rising with the hot water. It was a bit crazy, 70 or 80 people standing on a small section of beach with their spades, waiting for the tide to recede so they can dig their own personal spa pool.
Friday 14th January
Drove north to Coromandel Town – beautiful scenery and very winding roads. Then headed up the unsurfaced road on the West side of the peninsular to Fantail bay along a 30km stretch of rough dirt road and then walked a signposted ‘tramp’ up the hillside. Signs at the bottom warned not to follow the pink markers which indicated possum traps so we followed the blue ones. However not so sure this was
not a possum trap trail too as they were all along the way and the path just seemed to go on and on (and up and up) –so just walked until we found a scenic spot for a picnic and then returned.
Returned to Whitianga via the 309 road – which is unsurfaced for 14k but is actually an easier drive than the winding main road. Stopped along the way to visit the Waiau Falls and to take a nice short walk to a grove of 600 year old Kauri trees. There are 13 giant trees that somehow escaped the loggers who cleared the area in the early 19th century and were saved during WW2 by the locals when the government tried to requisition them for the war effort.
Saturday 15th
Drove to Hamilton. Along the way stopped at the Broken Hills and Puketui Valley and did a good walk up the hills and around some old Gold Mining workings. The paths followed water courses and rail tracks through the bush and at one point went through a 500m long tunnel. This was blissfully cool compared to the 27 degrees outside. Luckily we had been warned and so
had taken a torch with us and it was pitch black when we turned this off half way through – except for a few glow worms tucked away in the ceiling crevices. On the way into Hamilton we were caught in a traffic jam caused by 3 tractors moving along together. As we overtook two of them, we thought it a little odd as the occupants were all dressed up in smart clothes. But all became clear when we saw that the third tractor contained the groom and bride in her full white wedding dress and a just married sign on the back.
Quick photostop with the giant LP bottle and on into Hamilton
Hamilton has a bit more life in the evenings – lots of restaurants to choose from here. Went to Lonestar restaurant for dinner which serves meat basically – portions with 2 whole chicken breasts and 350g steaks! Were entertained by a stag party where the groom seemed to be dressed as some type of green bug – well it is farming country.
Sunday 16th
Headed off to the Waitomo caves today to go Black Water rafting in the underground caves. This involved getting
dressed up in very lovely wetsuits and helmets and grabbing a large car tyre inner tube to sit on as you float through the caves. Great fun especially jumping backwards off a small water fall with an inner tube wedged on your bum and then looking up at the millions of glowworms that live on the ceiling of the caves. Our guide told us that they live for about 3 months as larvae on the roof of the cave and dangle sticky threads down to catch flies that are attracted by their glow. They then turn into fungus gnats that have no functioning mouth or digestive system. They only live for two days to mate and lay eggs. At least that means they can’t bite Julia.
After caving, went for a really scenic drive westwards to the coast and then north and east again in a circuit back to Hamilton. Glorious limestone scenery – lots of rocky outcrops, deep valleys and sandy inlets from the sea. Stopped along the way to visit the Mangapohue natural arch and the Marokopa Falls (Julia can never pass a waterfall). The falls looked almost artificial as they tumbled down a square sheer rock
face.
Monday 17th
Lazy day to drive to Rotorua. Stopped at Tirau which is famous for its corrugated iron buildings. You couldn’t miss the Tourist information buildings.
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