The Holiday Coast...

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Saturday 23rd
Woke up to a dry but overcast day, so this looks promising, but as we drive off with our driver 'Purple', it starts to rain and it just gets heavier and heavier. We whizz through the mural town and the much hyped photo stop with the large Lemon and Peroa bottle - I shoud have asked him to stop - just got that blurred image out the window. We get to Thames a bit late, just time to swap onto the other bus, smaller - with our driver Luke. We head into the windy Coromandal hills, see plenty of swollen rivers and things bending in the (we later hear 40 knot) winds. We draw up to a couple of beaches, but miss out on 'Hot Water Beach' - where you can dig your own hot pool - the tide is wrong and the weather is not really up for it. We still get the option for Cathedral Cove, and think that's well worth getting soaked (and I did get soaked - my expensive "waterproof" is leaving me feeling distinctly damp - or is it just not letting me breath?!)... Slog back up the hill, nipping down to Stingray Bay, and then we head straight for Whitianga. A number of people are dropped off for bone carving, but I'm not too fussed about spending $40 on that, so check into the hostel, nice room - read a magazine, sort out a list. The hostel owner takes us to the supermarket 5.30pm, and so far the evening has been cooking enough food for a few days, chatting to a few people, and on the internet whilst the rain howls!!

Sunday 24th
Had decided to turn the alarm clock off, and slept for 10 hours - right through to 9am! By the time I'm ready am too late for any of the 10am services, so relax and watch Shortland Street, then chill with a book as it's still raining - a lot! By 4pm need some fresh air so go for a walk (rain and all) to find the church which has a 7pm service. Find it's cancelled over the summer, so guess that's that. Back to the hostel and chat/read/eat/internet til sleep! Arrange with Liz, Sheila and Ed that we'll hire a car early tomorrow.

Monday 25th
Bit of an early start and it's still raining, but we head out regardless. The weather slowly clears over the morning as we drive around beautiful coasts, soaking in the views. We stop in Coromandal Town where we relax with a coffee, and I find my cloth badge patch! We continue on to find a good surf spot for Ed - I just splash around in the sea, then we all have some lunch. We continue driving down the other side of the Coromandal Peninsula, trying to get to Hot Water Beach in time to experience the hot water holes. It's a lot further than we expect and by the time we get there the tide's starting to come back in, but this is fine as all you need to do is poke around with your foot to find the warm spot (be warned, some of it is too hot - few burns evident on some) - then sit in it and allow the cold water to swirl around. Final activity for the day is to go back to Cathedral Cove and walk back down - even more lovely out of the rain. We get back about 9pm, in time to eat/shower/pack for the next day!

Off to Auckland for a night, then up to Whangerai for scuba diving, Bay of Islands for an overnight cruise/day trip to Cape Reinga, then back to Auckland and off to South America!!

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