Coromandel

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Day 5

A long, uninterrupted sleep for a change. A quick check on the TV news revealed that the headline story was about a man killed in a tractor accident. Apparently, while we slept, we also missed the switching on of the “famous” Franklin Road Christmas lights by the mayor of Auckland. If only we had known we could have done it! After breakfast went back to the airport by bus and took a shuttle from there to the Campervan hire place just off the airport complex. Whizzed through a familiarisation hour and off on the road in the afternoon. Van was similar to a Transit van but another 6 feet longer with windows all round. It was easy to drive though and came with automatic gears and was a diesel so cheaper to run. It included a shower and wc as well as a gas hob and a microwave. The plan was to eat most meals out, however. First stop was the supermarket to stock up on the essentials. Then headed East and North to Coromandel. Started to get the impression of the hills while we drove along winding coast roads. Destination Shelly Beach (as in lots of shells rather than romantic poet) was right on a private cove. Lovely spot for a couple of nights. Claire dipped her feet into the Pacific. Tried to dine in Coromandel itself where there are several restaurants but most were shut or much more expensive than we wanted to pay. Did, however, manage to get pretty good pizzas.

Day 6

First night in our campervan and we had a very comfortable sleep surprisingly. Decided to strike East across the peninsula to see the white sandy beaches there. Went up high through the mountains above us and had some scenic views to both sides. Headed for Otama where we virtually had the whole 2 km beach to ourselves. Amazing rolling breakers, strolled along the sea edge and ascended dunes. Had a sticky moment when we discovered water leaking from the bottom of the van but concluded that this was to do with the air con, even though we didn’t have this on. At least it was not from the radiator. We have driven loads of miles since and no indicator lights have come on. Dropped down to Mercury Bay afterwards and the town of Whitianga. We were convinced that we saw a penguin! Have no photo to prove it. We debated whether to leave a trip to the Hahei area until the following day but decided to press on there as the sun was out. We were not disappointed as Cathedral Cove was stunning. It had to be approached via a 35 minute walk up and down the neighbouring coves, all the time with stunning sea views. The end result was not too dissimilar to Durdle Door but the sand was white and the sea roaring in. Great big breakers too. Returned to our site via a very dodgy road. Poor campervan didn’t like it much. After last night’s difficulty finding somewhere open for dinner, we raided our emergency rations and cooked for ourselves.

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Comments

[Sarah Mullen]

Wow, Cathedral Cove looks lovely - will have to get back to NZ and do the North Island at some point.