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Published: April 23rd 2010
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Probably one of our best days so far in New Zealand started gloomily - the clouds were so low that you felt that you could touch them and they hung so low on the opposite promontory sweeping towards the sea ... uh oh I said to John, that’s coming our way ... and sure enough we had on/off showers of rain to start (it cleared up beautifully and we ended up sweltering ... you just can’t tell here!!)
So we drove round the coast road, which showed us some stunning views - we’ve moved on from ‘wow’ to ‘awesome’ and ‘stunningly pretty’ as we go round the corners!
And after a short while we arrived at the old gold town of Coromandel ... well, we almost arrived at it - as we drove in John (bless him) saw the sign for quilters, so we pulled up at the St Johns Ambulance Hall instead. (Although I think that I heard him muttering ‘I should keep my mouth shut’ as he parked the van!!)
So there we were, gatecrashing the fortnightly meeting of the Coromandel quilting group - and very welcoming they were too! They were in the beginning stages
of creating a quilt to raffle off - using foundation piecing, which several had never done. We were treated to coffee and cakes, and John was soon in deep discussion about family trees, while I was busy showing some of the fabrics that I’d been buying on our journeys. We also watched the ‘show and tell’ session with admiration (where people show what they have made). We left with email addresses and advice on where else to call in on our travels. A lovely group of ladies and gentleman!
We then drove in to the main town, took advantage of the Laundromat and then walked around the town itself. It didn’t take long to find what is John’s most favourite place in NZ so far - the Coromandel Smoking Company (www.corosmoke.co.nz) - we walked in to be greeted with the most effusive ‘good morning’ from the sales girl, who then insisted that we try samples of each of their flavoured smoked mussels (sorry mum!). After a lot of debate we left with the chilli and the garlic flavoured smoked mussels (no surprises there!) and a smoked mussel pate. We later heard the peppered mackerel described as the best ever,
but you can’t buy everything (although I think we’d tried!) John actually described the smoked mussels as awesome and the best thing he’d eaten since the tea-smoked duck at Yingers in Adelaide. An incredible taste sensation! . The sales girl also noticed that John was wearing his England rugby shirt, and a conversation ensued on the recent Lions tour (hang heads in shame) - she actually met Jonny Wilkinson and some of the rest of the team. Huh!
There was also an opportunity to purchase more green lipped mussels, but I said we needed a bigger pot, so we paid a visit to the Op Shop (charity shop) to buy an old pressure cooker, bought 2kgs of mussels and a French stick and then visited the liquor shop to buy some cider (no more sav blonk for these mussels!). Looking forward to dinner tonight already!!
I left John in the pub where we’d had a glass of cider and red ale and John was charging the PC while checking the photos for the last few days - I went off to collect the laundry and was putting it in the van when
I had a lovely chat with an old chap who parked behind us. We were chatting about the volcano stopping European air flights - apparently they’ve put out a plea in Auckland for people to take in English families that have been stranded. He said he’d happily take someone, but that he was too far away from Auckland. Bless him! (I felt like saying ‘we’ll come, we’ll come, pick us!) (see diatribe below regarding finding camping sites!) As we were leaving an hour later, he knocked on the van door - he gave me 4 postcards of paintings that he’d painted in the 80s. Such a nice person.
I have to say that Coromandel is a really attractive old town, with lovely people, in the most wonderful area - fantastic! It probably is my favourite place so far in NZ. The Peninsula itself is awesomely pretty.
We then drove over the most scenic landscape, stopping part way to have our lunch, and eventually turned up at Hot Water Beach. This is a fantastic place where there are 2 hot water springs below the beach, so at low tide if you dig a shallow hole, the water comes up
from the springs and you effectively sit in a hot water spa. Wonderful! Unfortunately, although we turned up at low tide, it was getting late, and we were concerned as to where we’d camp.
This is one of the downsides that we’ve discovered. In Oz, our Camps 5 book gave us an idea of where we could camp, so we could plan ahead. Everyone told us we could camp anywhere in NZ (called ‘freedom camping’) - unfortunately, it appears that the Kiwis have got a little fed up with the less considerate visitors who leave mess everywhere, and the downside is that there are now ‘no camping’ signs everywhere - this means that sometimes we’re having to spend a long time searching for somewhere to stop the night. Perhaps its also that we’re law-abiding and respect signs that say ‘no camping’ - we suspect that many others just ignore them! Never mind, we’ve managed so far!!
And finally, best wishes to both Chris and Barry - hope you’re both ok - and that you actually got back to the UK in time for your appointment Barry!!
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