http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , North Island , Coromandel en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:20:16 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:20:16 +0000 Apologies you can't seem to edit once you've published so I've had to do a separate blog purely for photos...enjoy http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-458919.html OK so I've finally succumbed to using the crap internet here long enough to write a blog. I've been in Thames for 3 weeks now and it's definitely time to move onNot a lot has really happened here to mention but I did get to see a Santa Parade which appears to be a national thing whereby at Christmas every town has a little parade of various local businesses and such and then at the end someone http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-458697.html SURFING IN GISBORNEI went to check out the beach 16th Nov and it was indeed pretty flat. Probably just about surfable though so I decided I'd play some guitar by the beach then stock up on supplies in the supermarket and then head back down in the evening with a board and wetsuit. My first impressions of Gisborne hadn't been spectatular it was a bit too full of kids driving in squares in soup http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Hahei/blog-454322.html I love Halloween. I was a little worried because the kiwis don't really celebrate Halloween but was actually very pleased with how the day went. I carved pumpkins with my Scottish roomie Kat who had NEVER done that before The pumpkins in NZ in the spring are very small and white not like pumpkins much at all but they made pretty good JackOLanterns. After dinner Kat and I dressed up and went http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-449812.html Coromandel Peninsula Mercury BayDriving OutWe headed out Tuesday morning in our brand spanking new okay old and used up car. We drove from Auckland to the Coramandel Region and went along the Coastal Route crazy windy from Thames to Coromandel Town. We stopped at a few spots to take in the view and take a breath. The road did seem like it was on top of the ocean a lot of the time.The sc http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-449114.html Monday 26th October today I started the Kiwi Experience bus tour Just before 9am the green Kiwi coach pulled into the Auckland youth hostel to pick up some of us. Everyone on the coach looked extremely knackered from nonstop flying and drinkingToday we were heading to Whitanga on the Coromandel Peninsula just off the north coast and I couldn't wait to get out of Auckland and start seeing mor http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Whitianga/blog-448800.html So I was very skeptical of Thames at first I'm not gonna lie actually skeptical is a little soft I HATED Thames at first haha. However things have picked up quite a bit I got here a few days ago and am committed to two weeks of work here. The work is really not bad it's cleaning and making beds and such which I'm actually quite good at if I do say so myself. I know it's a dumb thing to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-447707.html Sept 13 Sept 27Hiring a campervan and hitting the open road is kind of obligatory when in New Zealand so we found the cheapest possible deal 30 a day and picked up a bright orange converted people carrier that is now known as a Spaceship called Ray.We took Ray to a town called Hahei from there we would explore the Coromandel Peninsula the top right part of the north island. We parked up a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-443354.html Vera and I made some breakfast and then packed up and piled all our stuff into the car and then drove over to the mall where the stray bus would pick us up again. I bought a book and sat and read while Vera took the car back. The bus finally came and we threw our stuff on and found seats. The bus was quite full.We drove to the hot water beach first. This beach lies on a fault line that heats the w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Hahei/blog-440016.html 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 itrsquos been a long time since I last was.We got to go http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-440014.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Coromandel-Town/blog-440013.html 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 50day with unlimited kmrsquos 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 automaticI drove it back to the hoste http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Coromandel-Town/blog-440012.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-440010.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Matarangi/blog-435070.html This is where I'm starting from. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/Thames/blog-426428.html Day 98 Monday 270709 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-424048.html Day 97 Sunday 260709 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-424045.html Day 96 Saturday 250709 NJJBit 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 a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-424042.html Note The two previous blogs I have published have not sent alert emails. 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 pi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-414685.html Our transition from South America to New Zealand was pretty painless. We decided to try and not sleep on our flight from Santiago to Auckland so that we could try and beat jet lag. We would be moving from 5hrs from home to 13hrs from home. An 18hr difference. Also we would lose a day of our lives. We flew on the 9th of June and arrived on the 11th In the airport in Santiago we picked up two bot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Coromandel/blog-409232.html