Off to Coromandel Town

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Today we said goodbye to our wonderful cottage in Hahei and packed up for our trip across the peninsula to the town of Coromandel. The route isn't exactly major highways and we took the “309” road (which turns to a dirt road after a few km) up through the hills. Like many of these smaller roads, the 309 narrows considerably and hangs on the edge of steep hillsides.

We stopped at a place called the Waiau Waterworks - an really cool combination amusement park - science lesson - art project. The owners must be artist turned Engineers (or the reverse) as the park is full of kinetic artwork that makes use of the stream that flows through the property.

The park features a huge waterworks clock, an amazing zip line (known here as a flying fox) and a plethora of creative and entertaining rides and swings. Much of the rides are put together with old car parts, brilliantly refashioned and recycled.

After spending several hours at the waterworks and having lunch there, we continued on the road the short remaining distance to the town of Coromandel. The town itself is fairly small but there are numerous art galleries and shops and the architecture is simple but interesting.

We are staying at a Top 10 again which turns our to be a long way out of town at a place called “Shelly Beach”. As it turns out, the park is virtually empty and judging by the signs we see on the way through town, there would have been lots of places for us to stay closer to town and with bigger rooms.

We are in a big block at the park, and with no one there it feels a bit like the hotel in the Shining. We have a tiny room, but the public areas are all empty so it feels like more space. When we walk to the beach, it turns out to be low tide and the flats (filled with shells) go on for close to 1 km before you reach the low tide mark. We spend the afternoon doing school work and then head into town and have a “Roast Dinner” at one of the restaurants.

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Photos

Up again!
We were wrong when we thought that we had finished with winding mountain roads!