Blogs from Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 40

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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town April 28th 2006

As we headed to the Coromandel Peninsula we heard on the radio that one of the roads was closed due to flooding, half hour later it says the road is open so we continued. We got as far as Whangamata only to be turned round by the police. There was one road north and that had been completely washed away and one road east and that was covered in a massive land slide. We stopped a while in Whangamata because they were having a classic car show. The town has 4,000 residents but for this weekends show there will be 70,000 people god knows where they are all going to go. After a quick coffee and a look at some classic cars we headed back the way we came. Luckily for us the only other road ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Thames April 18th 2006

The rest of my trip was what you would call…chill 101, that was until the last day, but you will just have to wait for that one. We spent the next 3 nights with my friend Tom at his family farm. It was so nice! He lives about 25 min outside a pretty large town (for the North Island that is) along this crazy dirt road (that’s right another one) where you have to ford two river to get to, lucky for Heather it had been a very calm few days and the river wasn’t over the bridges yet. His house is made of nothing but windows (including a corner window with pillowed bench seats! I feel in love). All the windows over look the Coramandel Peninsula Valley. It was so green! But we soon figured ... read more
View from Tom's
The girls
Farm Hands

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel April 5th 2006

Kia ora! No one ever really uses that greeting. The Maoris do I guess, but not just when you see them on the street usually. But it’s still fun to say. : ) This past weekend I participated in a Volunteer Conservation project on the Coromandel peninsula. It was wonderful! Six of us from AustraLearn, the study abroad program I came through, stayed at a woman’s house in the middle of the bush to help her eradicate introduced plant and animal species so that the native species would be able to grow. Dell, the woman whose land we were on, has owned the land for roughly 20 years, and has just recently built a house on it. She has a covenant on her land, which says that it has to remain how it is now - ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town March 30th 2006

All packed up and in Godfrey ready and raring, we started to drive out of Auckland but then we suddenly realised Jon and I didn't actually have a tent and none of us had food! We managed to get a tent in a shop here called Warehouse ("where everyone gets a bargin") and what a beauty she is. 15 Bucks and thats exactly what shes worth! The camoflage material earnt her the name G.I.Jane, we then was ready to find out is she was worthy of it! The big hole in the side might have been the reason for the cheapness but thanks to my Nans very handy little sewing kit, I knew we'd be fine. We headed off form Auckland eventually towards the Coromandel Peninsula. It was sunset as we were driving up and the ... read more
Sunset over Coromandel
G.I.Jane
Boil in a Bag

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town March 29th 2006

Stayed at The Anchor Lodge, woke to a completely blue sky so decided to do the Coromandel Coastal Walk. The walkway is from Fletcher Bay to Stony Bay located at the very top of the peninsula. Apparently the track is 7 kms in length and takes 3-4 hours one way. Walked it in glorious sunshine - fantastic scenery - took around 5 hours to complete. Had a soak in the hot tub then went for a few beers in the Star & Garter pub. ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Coromandel Town March 28th 2006

Drove 6 hours worth of hair pin bends to arrive in Coromandel Town for 2 nights. Stayed at the Lion's Den hostel, raved about in the hostel guide, which I thought was pretty grotty. Anyway, had the most amazing walk along the coastal road, from Fletcher Bay to Stoney Bay. The drive to Fletcher Bay took 2 hours as most of the road was unsealed track, but it was worth it. Took 3 hours, and was pretty hard going at points, but the view across the coromandel peninsula was breathtaking - a bit like Abel Tasman. The cows on the narrow steep pathway made for more of an adventure, as I would turn a sharp corner and nearly walk into a cow. Then it would be a battle of wills as to who would reverse as ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Thames March 17th 2006

I was supposed to be going up to Auckland to see U2... who then canelled (well, hopefully postponed to November but that's another story!):0( As I had already paid for a flight from Auckland down to Christchurch to meet Helen for our weee South Island road trip (that'll be the next blog!!) and I couldn't change it, I thought I'd go up anyway and spend a few days visiting the Coromandel Penninsula... one of the places that I really wanted to see but hadn't had the chance yet. I was really glad that I did - they were having a mini heat wave so I spent 3 days sunbathing on the beach!! Much more fun that the rain and wind I'd left down in Welly! I hired a car from Auckland and drove to a place ... read more
Sunset at Thames
Diving the Coromandel coast...
Driving the Coromandel Coast

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Whitianga March 6th 2006

My first day on Kiwi Experience, and boy what an experience! I am not the oldest person by any means (Richard Attenborough is in fact on board, well, someone who looks very like him) and I have met loads of non-18 year olds, which is nice. It's always a bit awkward at first chatting inanely to total strangers, but talking out of my bottom has always been a forte of mine. I have met one girl, Dina, who went to Cardiff at the same time as me and did Pharmacy - small world, eh? We travelled from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula, East of Auckland and stopped off at the very beautiful Cathedral Cove. From there we journeyed to Whitianga for the night (home of the Mercury Bay Yacht Club, where the New Zealand challenge for ... read more
What a stack!
Gravity-defying tree
Early morning on the Coromandel Peninsula

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Hahei February 22nd 2006

With my backpack ready, fresh and raring to go....off I went to see the sights of NZ and do everything a traveller should do! Stepping out on the street I felt invinsible and revelling in the freedom and the adventures that would come. Feeling like I was the only one who has ever done this I soon remembered that the only people up at 6am in the city are travellers.... and lots of them! And then came the flashbacks of carrying a cumbersum backpack...how long would I last! First stop, Hahei Beach on the Coromandel. Unfortunately due to 'inconvenient' tides I didn't make it to Hot Water beach but instead had the pleasure of visiting a local vineyard and having my first experience of Fejoa wine and other interesting liquer-type drinks...so i was happy! With some ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel February 20th 2006

We moved along the North Island to the Coromandel peninsula. This is on the way to Auckland and has some spectacular beaches. We didn't have that much time here but we managed to stop off to see Cathedral Cove. This is a lovely secluded but well known cove on the East coast. It is a 40min walk to get there but is worth it as you can see from the photos. Being on a weekend it was actually quite busy but this was mostly due to a wedding going on down there. Its a lovely location for a wedding but I wouldn't fancy walking 40mins in a wedding gown on a hot day. We also saw a little blue penguin swimming off the beach. Further down from Cathedral cove is Hot water beach. This has hot ... read more
Tree
Cathedral Cove
Cathedral Cove




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