A car for NZ...off we go!

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11/2/09 = Pick up Sylvia & off to Whitianga

Another brilliant sleep last night. Woke up at 6am, but then got straight off back to sleep and didn't wake up properly until 9am...awesome! Took alot to force myself out of bed at 9am, but lot to do today because picking up car...yeh! Really excited for driving, but not excited to see what car we've been landed with...did ask for smallest and cheapest possible thing. Got ready and checked out at 10am. Asked about a hairdressers in town because both look a state still and lady on desk recommended a salon over road. Had to pay $2 each to store bags in a cupboard at hostel = ridiculous, but then off we went. Tried hairdressers recommended and was pleased to see it looked nice; not so pleased when they said they were busy for whole day 😞 Really need haircut...4months is really too long...literally! Trudged off to find car shop then, looking for hairdressers on way. Didn't have any look with hairdressers, but did find car shop 30mins out of town. Paid remaining $150 each for car, signed life away on documents and scoured/skipped over terms and conditions. Waited anxiously for car then...hope it has 4 wheels! Couldn't believe it when she pulled car in. Face literally dropped. She must have made some mistake. She had just driven in a brand new car...5 doors...shiny new...and not at all the heap of junk I had imagined. Didn't want to get too excited in case she had made a mistake, but she climbed out and handed us keys straight away. AWESOME! Jumped straight in and it just got better and better. Power steering, electric windows, aircon, MP3 adaptor, central locking...I could say more, but that's as far as my car knowledge goes...it was a pretty colour! Deb driving first, so in she got and off we went...or not. In place where should have been a gearstick, there was a funny straight up and down stick and the clutch peddle didn't even exist. What's going on here then? An automatic car...never driven an automatic car in my life! Oh no! She could see we were stuggling and guessed our problem straight away. She spent 3mins explaining to us that only 'gears' we needed to use were D for drive, P for park and R for reverse...think I can remember that. Can't imagine driving without a gearstick or clutch though...definitely going to be weird. Got giddy with thought of it, then with nothing left to say, off we went. Deb did really well and got us back to hostel with no probs, although she said it was really weird to not change gear and was still pressing foot down. Ha!

Picked up bags from hostel - took 2 trips, definitely not strong enough to carry 2x20kg bags at once - then headed for Coramandel Peninsula: Whitianga. Knew roads to get there, but had usual problem of getting out of city and finding motorway connections. Decided to go out way that we had come in on bus. Deb spotted some kind of motorway and we turned straight onto it without even looking. Was v.lucky really, because turned out to be right one. Spent bit more time looking through map then and figuring route. Rubbish map they had given us and only had 8pgs for whole of New Zealand = can't be right! Although, there aren't really that many roads in New Zealand either, so maybe that's all you need? Took 10mins to be confident in route, then relaxed and read guide book. Sorted out MP3 connection and listened to music, then after around 40mins, got off main road number one, drove down road 2 and got onto much nicer road no.25. Not a busy highway like others and had amazing scenery. Mountains were around us in all directions and the further we got, the more we ended up driving round and through them. Was awesome. Never driven anything like it. Stark contrast to driving Australia = miles and miles of dessert, NZ = miles and miles of greenery and countryside. Took an hour on this road to get to Whitianga and spent whole hour taking in scenery. NZ is beautiful!

V.excited when did arrived and town looked really nice. No idea where hostel was, so stopped at info centre and asked them for directions. Also asked about Hot Water Beach = place we wanted to visit to sit in own hot pool. Turns out that you need to get there 2 hours either side of tide so that you could dig a hole and sit in it with hot water. Had already missed time today, so had 2 options: 1) Get up at 2:30am and get to beach at 3:30am ready for digging, or, stay in Coramandel longer than planned by an extra day. Lady at info centre said "You're young...party all night and go straight after that". Ha! I'm not that young! Don't know why anyone would go to beach in pitch black to dig a whole for water...crazy! Couldn't decide what to do, so went to find hostel and think about it. V.impressed with hostel when got there. Was called Beach View, but have heard that line before and ended up in some awful places looking out at Concrete Skyscraper Walls. This time, was absolutely true. Hostel was right on beach front and looked out onto an amazing view of beach and water...really amazing. Even better that they had free parking for us too.

Checked into room and decided that would stay longer in Coromandel to do Hot Water Beach at more sociable hour in afternoon tomorrow. Would just arrive in Rotorua later than expected. Looked around hostel then and was really impressed. Rooms lovely, with single beds...yeh...single beds, not bunks! Had a beautiful Bay window in room too with a window seat that could sit in and look out across beach. Lovely. Kitchen and lounge were nice too and all just generally had a really nice/chilled feel. Couldn't function without eating first. Was 4:30pm and only eaten breakfast so far today. Jumped back in car and did short drive to New World = big chain of supermarkets out here. Did big shop because car = ideal for storing food, and decided to make spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. Got really excited for food then and devastated when got back and found that all power had gone off. Had to make do with fruit and bread in meantime. Had treated self to nice cheese and onion bread that always get at home...went down a treat! Didn't want to be stuck round waiting, so went off to have a nosey at beach. Did the 15sec walk and was really impressed with it. Really pretty beach, made all the better with mountains could see at sides of it. Hoping for a sunny day tomorrow so can lay on it 😊

Pottered back to hostel and asked about power then. They didn't even know it had gone off and only took flick of a switch to get it turned back on again. Saw the most amazing thing on noticeboard while in reception though. Job advertised for a person to live on a farm and ride a professional horse everyday because current rider injured. Was only for months February and March and provided free accommodation + small wage. How brilliant. Would literally have been the perfect job if wasn't travelling around. Gutted. Reported back to Deb about amazing job and power; she was more impressed with power, and we started making dinner. Did the usual of making far too much, but was really tasty. Gulped down an average 2 peoples worth each and still had some leftover...maybe for dinner tomorrow. Headed to room then and sat in window seat again. Could have sat there all day and found myself wanting to drift to sleep as I did. Didn't really know what to do for evening and ended up flipping a coin to decide we would stay in and watch TV. Both really fancied chocolate, so after even more ruminating, decided to head out to a shop had seem relatively close by. Really don't deserve chocolate though; most walking have done today has been the 30sec walk to beach! Just needed it though.

Shop was further than thought and after 20mins, found it...closed! Couldn't believe it and both disappointed. Had got ourselves so excited for chocolate already. Dreams crushed. In desperation, headed further into town, but all searching was in vain; shops closed and only a pub open. What I wouldn't have done for a chocolate bar at that moment. Took it as a sign from God anyway and trammed back to hostel most displeased. Made tea and a sandwich to try and satisfy tummy, but then Deb came back bearing treats. She had found a coin machine with sweets inside and got me some peanut M&M's, her some skittles. Result! Drunk tea, ate sandwich and followed up with chocolate. Lovely ending to a day. TV turned out to be rubbish, so played game on phone for a while (got a bit addicted to Tetris) then headed to bed. Early start tomorrow because decided to get up and watch sunrise = 5:45. Only over road though, so only have to get up 5mins early and trot over in pyjamas. Hope is a clear morning.

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Photos

The wonderful Sylvia x
Definitley has 4 wheels.

The beach
Well, I suppose it's more water actually.

A different view of the beach.
But, there are rocks and mountains wherever you look.

Waded in water a little
Was a really nice, peaceful beach.

Wonderful window seat.
When I'm old, I'd like to be placed in a home with a view like this...or maybe have a young Brad Pitt toyboy...maybe I'll work on the second one.

Us on the window seat.
A lovely place to sit :)