Hots Springs and New Friends

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Howdy! We left Auckland on Sunday and we haven't looked back since.

Sunday we drove along the coast and ended up at Miranda hot pools. There was a sweet holiday park where we stayed and soaked in the hot spring. This hot spring was developed into a smallish concrete pool. It was not the hottest though it was mineral rich and felt great. On the way to Miranda we stopped to get batteries for our camera and we learned the hard way why brand name batteries are more expensive than the rest. IT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE BETTER.

At the holdiay park we met a nice older couple from North of AUckland they extended there hoime to us and any help we may need. It turns out these two kind folks Len and Caroline were just the first of many friends we will be making on this journey.

Monday we woke up and headed for Thames (check your maps it is definitely on there) on the Coromandel penisnula. We stopped in town and stocked up on some supplies. We also bought fabric so that we could make new curtains for Foxy Roxy (our shit brown van). The day was dreary and rainy so we drove a little way up the coast and stopped to make some grilled cheese and curtains. This took most of the day, but just as we finished our work the sun came out. We continued up the coast road ( a little aside here, the coast road was narrow and lterally right on the coast, the telephone polls were in the ocean and so was a careless driver, yes that's right we saw a car in the Ocean the police and tow truck standing by scratching there heads trying to figure out how to fish it out). We made it safely along the coast and to our final destination of Coromandel township. After a bit of searching we found a great spot to park for free on Omariu Bay just north of Coromandel Township. We were rewarded with an epic sunset (pictures will be posted in the future).

Tuesday we wnet into town and opened a New Zealand Bank account. This seems like a nice convenience while we are here. We are still working out the kinks of transferring money from our US accounts, however, that should clear itself up in the coming weeks. After the business end of the day we ate some lunch and headed out along scenic hwy 309. This mostly unpaved road crosses the Coromandel Peninsula from Coromandel Town to Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga). This road was awesome (except for the few spots where there is evidence of clear cutting (logging)). We stopped at Waiau falls and we checked out some gorgeous Kauri trees. Once across the peninsula we headed down towards Hot Water Beach. This beach is so named for hot springs that bubble up through the sand during low tide.

We hit the beach at the wrong tide so we pondered sticking aorund for a late night attempt. Just as we were about to leave and head to another location for dinner and sleep two smiling strangers drove up in a van. We stopped to chat and discovered they were canadian rafting guides and they had fresh clams they were looking to share. We thought this was a good sign so we setlled in for dinner with our new friends Eneko and Heather. We had a feast of a dinner and then made a late night (11pm) assault on the Hot Water Beach. This effort was comical if anything. A storm swell form the past few days meant that low tide was not quite so low and we did not have luck finding teh hot water.

We made another attempt on the beach today and we determeined where the hot water is. Unfortunately the tide was still quite high so we had to move on without a hot soak. We should be in the area for a few weeks so we will definitely go back.

Now we are in Whitianga and we are headed to the Wilderland Trust farm (2000 fruit trees and 150 beehives) for our first WWOOF experience. WE will probably be here for 2 to 3 weeks.

We will let you know how we make out. So far our trip has been everything we have dreamt of.

That's all for now.

Benji and Abby 😊

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