Blogs from Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 14

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Thames September 18th 2009

Scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast this morning. MMMM. We decided to do a horse trek this morning so we went over and helped Nathan our guide to round up the horses. We got to brush our horses. Mine was named Ziggy. He was super cute. For an hour and a half horse trek it only cost us $27 NZD!!! Cheap! It was fun being back on a horse as it’s been a long time since I last was. We got to go through some creeks, some forest bits, open fields, up hills, down hills. It was fun! We also learnt a lot about the history of the area thanks to Nathan. He told us lots of cool Maori stories too. Got back to the farm and ate our lunch and then hopped back in the ... read more

Helping on the farm

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town September 17th 2009

Baby Lamb

Laurene

Up early as we volunteered to help on the farm in the morning. Walked over to the main house and our first task was to feed an orphaned baby lamb a bottle of milk. He was so cute!! Lets us get close enough to pet him. Then we had to feed the hens. Put some corn in their trough. The hostel owner gave each of us 2 farm fresh eggs!!! MMM. Then we were in for a treat as the men were driving up to the top of one of the mountains on their land to drive the sheep up there down the mountain. So we hopped into the back of the ute (truck) and held on to the metal railing. We stopped and picked up another guy and 7 sheepdogs. So there were 4 of ... read more

Driving the 309 road

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town September 16th 2009

Our lunch stop

Laurene

Took our time packing up and made some breakfast and then left our bags at the hostel and walked over to the car place. Signed the contract and got the keys. We get the car for $50/day with unlimited km’s and we just pay for petrol. Was then shown the car a little Nissan Bluebird. Never heard of those back home but was a cool car. Yes, luckily it was an automatic! I drove it back to the hostel which was so weird. First of all, you’re in the opposite side of the car of to drive and then you have to remember to keep left or the opposite side of the road and you have to remember to look the other way for traffic haha. But I got us there. Vera drove us over to ... read more

Coromandel Region

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Thames September 15th 2009

Mount Eden Crater

Laurene

Up super early to get onto the Stray bus. Our first stop was to go up Mount Eden which you guessed it is another Volcano. There is a grassy crater at the top and you can see all of Auckland from up there. We then got out of the city. Our next stop was a roadside fruit and veg stand. Vera and I decided to buy some veg to make a stir fry that night. We also bought a bag of kiwis because they were so cheap. We got a bag with like 24 kiwis for $2NZD. Crazy! We stopped in Thames and got a few more things for our stir fry and then the stray bus dropped us off at our hostel. We were the only 2 hopping off. There was a sign at the ... read more

Finally!

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Matarangi September 9th 2009

BobClick

This is a quantum jump for a second blog entry. It's 7.15pm in New Zealand, and I'm sitting in our backpacker van atop a flowery mattress, in jumpers and a sleeping bag at 7.15 at night. It's dark, and cold after a cloudless day. We're in a posh managed campsite on the southwetern corner of the Coromandel, in the North Island of NZ. Yes - we made it here in one piece. I say that because Clarissa's nervous build-up to the first flight leg from Heathrow became so intense that even I started to doubt a 747's ability to take off and land safely. It started a whole almost fuzzed month ago, with my lovely wife deciding that she would need some serious synapse-numbing drugs following a bad experience when we flew to Portugal earlier in ... read more

Point of Origin

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Thames August 8th 2009

Te Kouma

suigeneris

This is where I'm starting from.... read more

Relax To The Max

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel July 27th 2009

Lunch At Camp

jayandnat

Day 98 (Monday 27/07/09, NJJ) Apart from popping into town for some food basics we spent the day at the holiday park. Got on top of the laundry, tidying, internet stuff etc. We had a go of putting the tent up which turned out to be successful and quick. We spent over an hour in the pool from 7.45pm relaxing and having fun. Didn't get to sleep until after 1am.... read more

Nat Loves Mud

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel July 26th 2009

The Coromandel

jayandnat

Day 97 (Sunday 26/07/09, NJJ) Drove into Coromandel town but didn't stop. On to Thames just over an hour away next but most places were closed as it's Sunday. Had a roast dinner, Jamie had beef, Nat tried the New Zealand lamb, was nice but not a patch on Joan's or Joyce's cooking. Drove on to Miranda Holiday Park 20 mins away. Got there around 3pm. Straight to the complementary mineral pool onsite (38.5 degrees) for an hour or so. When it came to having a shower I plastered myself in my Rotorua mud that Jamie scooped out of the mud pool for me. My skin definitely felt nicer afterwards and I didn't pay a fortune for it either. When it came to dinner we'd run low on pasta so we had a chucked together cheap ... read more

We Can Handle The Coromandel

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel July 25th 2009

Te Puke Lunch Break

jayandnat

Day 96 (Saturday 25/07/09, NJJ) Bit worried about John during the night but that's more because we're so far away and can't visit him. Left camp at 10am. Bought a tent ready for Canada and USA. Left Rotorua and drove to Te Puke where we had lunch in back of van. Beautiful sunny day. Drove through Tauranga. Stopped at Hot Water beach, the place where at certain times of day you can dig in the sand and take a dip in your very own hot pool. We didn't do this but we did go to the spot where everyone congregated for this purpose and dipped our feet in the water. We actually scolded our feet as it was so hot. On to Cathedral Cove, had to walk 40 mins from the car park to get there ... read more

More New Zealand

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel July 3rd 2009

Green Hills of NZ

Sheridan

(Note: The two previous blogs I have published have not sent alert e-mails. If your a regular reader, check to see if you've missed the last two publications.) It's official: we're off the beaten track! Our adventures outside of Auckland are under way and we're enjoying breathing the fresh air of the New Zealand countryside. We met Mom, Breck, and Travis and the airport and were then off to pick up our rental car. A first hand experience at driving and navigating from the opposite side of the road was just what we all needed after 15 plus hours of airplane travel (them) and getting up at 3:30 am to catch the shuttle to meet and greet at the airport (us). But we were pretty hyped to be together and adventuring. OK, actually, Mom was neurotic, ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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