Blogs from Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

well guys what can i say, New Zealand just keeps producing the goods, from beautiful vistas to grounded down to earth people, Whitianga is nice (very nice) but i dont feel as at home as in Paihia, so thats the place for us, the bike is great as per, the back is knackered so a few days of, bit of kayaking and scuba should sort the back ha ha, it really is paradise, but you have to share paradise, if you see it on your on you might aswell stayed at home and looked at photos Ta Ta for now Sam x... read more

Yesterday we had an amazing time at Hot Water Beach digging our little space and wallowing in the really hot water!! Then went on to explore the east coast Today we have been on the west coast and found a water garden at Rapaura and spent 2 hours wandering round in the rain. Weather has been very changeable and reminded us of wet North Wales... read more

Så blev det min tur til at få en på opleveren. Sammen med 11 kiwier havde jeg booket en halvdags snapper-fisketur fra Coromandel. Det blev en fantastisk oplevelse, dagskvoten er 9 snappere, og 20 min før tiden udløb, havde jeg fuldt hus og måtte stoppe fiskeriet. Fiskeriet foregår lige opad af de mange kæmpe store muslingefarme, idet muslingerne afgiver ekskrementer som tiltrækker snapperne. Der er strenge krav i New Zealand, f.eks. koster det 250 NZD, hvis ikke snapperen minimum er min 28 cm lang. Kiwierne siger faktisk, at fiskeri kontrollen i dag, er mere magtfuld end politiet, så det var med at overholde reglerne. Det skal bruges kæmpe stykker med madding, som sættes på en kanske speciel måde, som jeg fik lært via en dvd, som tilfældigvis var i det hus vi lejede i Pohara. Det ... read more

Bon bien me voici à Thames situé dans la péninsule de Coromandel.. 6 heures d'autobus depuis Pahia hier. Mais sur la route les paysages sont magnifiques, alors c'est plutôt plaisant de se déplacer ainsi. Pour ma dernière journée à Pahia j'ai visité Waitingi, l'endroit ou un important traité à été signé avec les Maori. Le site est magnifique. De cet endroit c'était le point de départ d'une belle marche de 10 km (allez-retour) pour les Haruru Falls. Les chutes sont plutôt décevantes, mais c'était la seule récompense rendu au bout du sentier. Mais la marche à travers la forêt et la mangrove valait la peine. Aucunes de mes photos peuvent rendre justice à la beauté de cette forêt. Le vacarme assourdissant des insectes et des oiseaux auraient suffit pour rendre ce trajet intéressant pour un aveugle. ... read more

In the morning, we visited Hot Water Beach and enjoyed sitting around in the termal water pools. We couldn't leave without paying a visit to the fantastic Moko Artspace which sells art/sculpure/jewellery etc by local artists. We gave a couple of German hitchhikers a ride back to Hahei (90% of the travellers we met are from Germany!) before taking the ferry over to Whitianga. This lovely little town is full of quirky shops and cafés, so we spent most of the afternoon exploring. Later, we visited Cook's Beach and North Beach - but it was a bit too cold to swim in the sea!... read more