Mount maunganui and the Coromandel

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On Sunday myself, my roommate Laurence and my friend Matt left Waiheke for a couple days to go to Matt’s house in Te Puke ( Yes ha ha, Puke!). Before living we went on a tour of the Stony Batter vineyard where Matt worked. The vineyard is huge it takes up about a fifth of the island. The vineyard is very cool, it has roads going everywhere, it's very hilly and there where miles of fences which kept the sheep and cows away from the thousands of grape vines. We did the tour it Matt's pickup and I wanted to explore roads which went down to beaches but we didn't have enough time. Before getting onto the ferry we stopped at Mudbrick winery and got a free tasting of there wines, which were ok but the real attraction to Mudbrick is the amusing view of Auckland from its balcony. The drive to Te Puke was really cool because the roads are very winedy and narrow and there is lots of one way bridges. They don't seem to have the wildlife on the roads like we do and the cars and trucks are much smaller so I didn't find to roads to be unsafe.
Our first day we went to Mount Maunganui, which is in the bay of plenty on the east coast of the north island. It very cool the mount is right on the ocean and there are no other hills or mountains near by. We climb the mount, which takes about 45 mins and you get a 360 degree view of the area. After the climb we when surfing! It was awesome, I borrowed a board from Matt and he gave me a crash course on surfing. It took awhile but I managed on catch a couple waves and was feeling pretty good about myself at the end of the day.
On Tuesday we left Matt's house and headed up the Coromandel to a place called Whangamata. On our way we stopped and went blokarting. For those who don't know what a blokart is its a go-cart with a sail on it, but they go a lot faster then a sailboat and they don't have brakes like a go-cart. It was pretty sweet you get going fast before these hair pin turns then let your sail out as you go around the turn so you don't take flight. We got into Whangamata late and rented a small little cabin in a trailer park for the night. Since it was Valentines day we decide to get trashed and play Red or Black.
The next day we woke up early and went surfing at Whangamata, which had some really big and powerful waves that kicked the shit out of me. But as I slowly sweated out my hangover and started catching a few waves and I definitely feel like I'm getting better. After surfing we went to Hahai, which is up the coromandel peninsula. We went on a walk to two beachs in Cathedral bay. The two beaches are connected by an arched passage way. After the beach we drove back to Auckland and eat some awesome Japanese food.
I'm back on Waiheke until Sunday then living for good and heading down the east coast in a dirty van!

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Photos

Our cool Cabin
At the end of our game of Red or Black

Me on a Rock
This rock had a cool cave that we swam in

View from the Mount
This is a view down at the town and the surf

Archway
This is the archway that connected the beaches

Comments

[Margo]

Good times!!
Hey there Ian, Sounds like you're having the best time ever, but, don't overdue it!! Next time we do a family holiday, you'll have to teach me to surf, ha, ha!! Keep the adventure stories coming love reading them!! Take care, love ya, Aunt Margo (the cool one, ha, ha!!)

[moodybitchyblondie]

The best St Valentin I never had and I ever will have! Thanks for what you did my dear!