Hitting the road in our Spaceship

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Sept, 13 - Sept, 27

Hiring a campervan and hitting the open road is kind of obligatory when in New Zealand so we found the cheapest possible deal ($30 a day) and picked up a bright orange converted people carrier that is now known as a Spaceship called Ray.

We took Ray to a town called Hahei from there we would explore the Coromandel Peninsula (the top right part of the north island). We parked up at a site on a farm and ended up getting loads of bites on our legs. We hoped this was from insects in the long grass and nothing living in the grimy carpet of the van, or heaven forbid the bedding!

Unfortunately we had a bit of a mishap when we set off to the Coromandel and ended up trapped in a muddy verge following an ill-judged three point turn. Panic started to set in when we couldn't push the damn thing out and the engine wouldn't start especially as we were blocking most of the narrow mountain road. Thankfully a knight in shining armour spotted us from his farm up the road and came along in his 4x4 to pull us out. Turns out the exhaust was all blocked up with dirt from the bank which spurted out as Simon turned the engine over. So after that we were a bit wary of any more three point turns.

The Coromandel is a lovely area. We walked through rainforest and up and down steep cliffs to get to Cathedral Cove which is where they filmed scenes from Prince Caspian. It's a stunning beach with a waterfall coming down one cliff and a huge hole in part of another cliff which creats a cave that you can walk through when the tide is out. Pretty spectacular.

We had heard of a hot water beach where for two hours either side of high tide you can dig in the sand and hot water comes up to create your own spa pool. Armed with a spade Simon set to work, battling the tide, to make his own little hot tub. There wasn't much beach space left when we arrived as it's quite a popular pasttime and it took a while to locate a patch of hot sand. To find an area where there is hot water you need to wiggle your feet a bit under the sand to feel for warmth. The water was really hot, too hot even, in some places. A huge group of tourists had created a mini swimming complex with lots of interconecting pools but Simon settled for a hot tub for one. Which he managed to complete despite the tide coming in several times to collapse his banks.

Going to bed in Ray was a bit of a mission. It involves turning the chairs around and rigging up a bit of plywood then putting the 'matress' (this comes in three parts and is basically seating from another vehicle) over the plywood. It was quite comfy though and came with a huge warm duvet and pillows which were very useful considering it gets really cold at night. Although Ray came with a gas stove (to use this you have to rig up a piece of metal out of the side of the van to cook on) we never used it because all the campsites we stayed at had kitchens. The bed can also be made to pop out of the boot of the vehicle by hooking up a piece of canvas to create a mini tent out of the back. This gives a lot more space but we only did this twice because it was just too cold.

When the camper got a bit too much (we were beginning to get hunchbacks from being unable to stand up) we checked into a cabin at a site in Lake Taupo for three nights. It literally rained solidy for the whole time we were there so it was good to have our own room and be able to watch TV although NZ TV is soooo unintentionally funny because it is just so bad.

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Photos

Cathedral Cove
The waterfall on the beach

Spaceship
Simon in the bed with the tent opening out of the boot

Cathedral Cove
That's Simon in the archway

Hahei
Simon digging his hot bath

Hahei
The tide kept him busy

Hahei
He managed to sit down for 30 secs before the tide came and washed his hole away