People all over the world, join hands. Start a love train, love train.

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From Auckland I decided to try out my new car and drive to the Coromandel. The Coromandel is a peninsula situated a couple of hours drive from Auckland and is famed for its rugged scenery and seclusion. This was not always the case. Gold was discovered here in 1867 which led to an influx of prospectors. Nowadays the prospectors are long gone, as too the loggers that followed them. Now far fewer people live in the small, scattered towns that litter the cape and many of these call themselves “alternative life-stylers”. Hippies to you and me.
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In the first hostel I stayed at I got talking to an Aussie girl who was hitching around the North Island. When I told her of my new vehicle she offered to be my car-mate for a bit of company. As I didn’t feel enraptured with the prospect of whistling to myself again for self-ammusement, I accepted. We spent the next day racing around the region, flitting from one side of the coast to another. At every destination either I or Danni would be deeply unimpressed and we would jump back in the car and jet off to the next recommended spot. By doing this we saw two-thirds of the Coromandel’s highlights in a single day. With such productivity, the following morning Danni had decided she had seen all she wanted and caught a bus to Auckland. This left me free to re-explore all the places that caught my attention the previous day.
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Pottery and small-gauge railways do not usually attract my attention. However the Driving Creek railway in Coromandel Town was a must-see item (apparently), so I decided to pay it a visit.
Barry Brickell, the owner of the railway was originally a teacher but dreamed of becoming a moody, recluse potter instead. Who can honestly say that haven’t felt the same way at times? He bought a plot of land that contained good clay and then set about building a miniature railway to help him bring the material down to his studio at the foot of the hill. Being a small-gauge railway enthusiast, as the years went on Barry extended his track, adding more and more impressive engineering structures. He constructed bridges, tunnels and embankments; decorating these with examples of his work. After several years of expansion the idea struck him to open the railway to the public. Nowadays thousands take the hillside climb to the summit where the “Eye-full Tower” is situated.
It was fascinating to see someone’s life work realized and become so popular with others. Maybe The Neil Garner School of Modern Dance and Contemporary Street Theatre will be built!
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I stayed one night at The Lion’s Den hostel in the Coromandel. It was highly recommended by both fellow travelers and the Lonely Planet guide book. The LP described it as a hippy retreat so when I arrived I was not surprised to see it decked out with a safari theme. What I couldn’t get my head around was the bathroom arrangement. The two bathrooms appeared to have no locks and yet weren’t divided into the usual gents and ladies. I thought this might be a hippy thing; an example of throwing inhibitions to the wind. “So what if you’re naked when someone else walks in; the human body is a beautiful thing”. However, after several weeks of hostel life I treasured any moment of privacy, however brief and thought this a little too much. I had the quickest shower in recorded history and vowed that I would move on the next day. The following morning I informed the nice lady running the hostel that I wouldn’t be staying any longer and loaded up the car. Five minutes before I set off I headed back to one of the bathrooms to use its facilities. It was then that I found the lock, incorporated into the handle of the door. I am an imbecile.
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I decided to brave one of the famous gravel roads of the region with my car. It is supposed to be a beautifully scenic route. I don’t know if it’s true. I spent the one-and-a-half hour journey concentrating solely on the winding road for fear of having another accident. I didn’t, which means the overall score is now gravel roads: 1, Neil: 1.

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Photos

Catherdral Cove
Limestone arch. Nice.

The Eyeful tower
At the top of the hill.

An eyeful
The view from the tower

Brick tunnel
All barry's own work.

Paku, Tiarua
It's an old pa (fort) site

Boat
On the way up Paku I passed this rather fetching boat.