Blogs from Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 6

Having travelled for 400 miles of the south west North Island which was OK but not outstanding by previous standards, except for Waitomo caves, we decided to spend the last three days driving the Coromandel peninsular. This is a thumb of land east of Aukland separated by The Thames. This is not a river but a huge tidal area and near the head is a place called Thames. To drive all the way round the coastal route takes 6 hours and is very scenic but with narrow twisitng roads and hill climbs and decents. We had two overnight stays to savour the area which is a playground for the rich Auklanders. The east side (Pacific) is beautiful with coves, beaches and marinas whilst the west side is commercial with salmon and mussel farms galore. Our last ... read more

14.-16. Oktober: Sonntag, Montag und Dienstag Waipoua Kauri Forest ( Tane Mahuta ), Reisetag nach Snells Beach an der Ostküste und Weiterreise nach Whitianga. Am Sonntag beschliessen wir auf den Besuch in Russell mit Spaziergang zum Flagstaff Hill zu verzichten und stattdessen Tane Mahuta, dem grössten Kauri Baum einen Besuch zu machen. Dazu müssen wir den nördlichen Teil der Nordinsel überqueren um in den Waipoua Kauri Forest zu gelangen, das heisst ein Weg ist ca. 130 km lang. Da dies seine Zeit dauert, müssen wir was zum Futtern mitnehmen. Wir packen also den Rucksack mit Trinkbarem, streichen Sandwiches und stecken noch Kraftriegel ein. Die Wetterlage ist unstabil, also stopfen wir noch unsere Regenjacken in den Rucksack. Wir fahren los, gemütlich, Willi knipst unentwegt Bilder, wir zählen die überfahrenen Oposums, Vögel und anderes Getier, hören dam... read more

We all slept well in our campervan beds! Got up and had breakfast around 7:30am, then headed straight to the hot springs mineral pool for another heavenly soak. After that E & S went and got some exercise on the trampoline until it was time for us to move on. We drove into Thames and stopped to have lunch in a café… meat pies and sausage rolls. That’s when the rain started. We went on to the shopping mall where there was supposed to be free internet access. We found the connection site but had no luck connecting so gave up on that. We drove on along the seafront and through farm land making our way to Hahei Beach which is in the Whitianga area. The roads were very narrow and sometimes we were driving on ... read more

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

The first day I left on my 'Kiwi Experience' I woke up at 7am in order to be ready to catch the bus at 8:20. As if I needed a reminder that traveling in a group can be tedious by the time we had collected everyone and they had gotten their tickets sorted out we didn't leave Auckland till 10:00am. But in the spirit of fairness the first place we stopped in the Coromandel peninsula is called Cathedral Cove and it is the place they filled Narnia. I had no idea it existed until I got there, so I definitely would have missed out if I had been traveling on my own. The hike down to Cathedral Cove took about an hour and then an hour back. Basically it is straight down and back up a ... read more