Blogs from Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 42

Winding Down and Heading Home We won't be leaving for a couple more days, but tomorrow night will be hectic getting ready, so this is going to be the last entry before you see us again. We went rafting through underground caves today (so physically demanding, we all came out the other end agreeing we'd loved it and hated it all at the same time), then made our way across the North Island to the Bay of Plenty ... aka the Pacific Ocean. Of course we can't see the Pacific Ocean without thinking of our home being stretched so far across that water. It's wonderful and awful to be at the end of this trip. So much has happened during the years to even get here, or to have kept us from it. And while I ... read more

sweet as....i have my buddy back!! i picked meesh up from the airport yesterday. not before i backed chippy into a ditch on rhondda and john's driveway at 5:30am....oops. here's the story. i got up and out the door at 5:30. understand that this driveway is very very steep....so steep that chippy has to get a little momentum going down the first hill to get up the second. i had my momentum going, but....as i got halfway up the hill i noticed a big branch in the road. so i stopped, put the emergency brake on and got out to move the branch. no sooner did i step out and shut the door chippy started rolling down the hill....backward. needless to say she ended up in a ditch. i had to wake them when i realized ... read more

Day 2 - a mostly-overcast and often rainy day. We started out in Auckland in the morning, where we managed to set out at 8:30am to find a bite to eat and to stop by the AA Centre to get reciprocal membership using our U.S. AAA cards. Then it was back to the car and the Southern Motorway for a day on the Coromandel Peninsula. One of Ben's first observations on this, our first true "roadtrip day" was that the blue "services" signs along the road used an image of a carrot and apple as their shorthand for "food available here", while in the U.S. the equivalent symbol is a burger. A telling (and humorous) difference! By the time we got to the town of Thames at the foot of the peninsula, the rain was pouring ... read more

We set off today down the west coast. There was nothing there! No towns for miles. We drove through Dargaville and Helensville. We arrived in Auckland early evening and went for a well deserved beer. Tried to call parents at 6am sunday morning! oopps! 31.10.05 Got up and headed for the Coramandel, Thames. Had a walk around the town and had our lunch on our own private beach. Mel sunbathed whilst Andy played in the rock pools. Stayed in Waimou just north of Thames. 1.11.05 Today we went to an old gold mine and stamper battery. This area is known for gold. Coramandel is where they first found gold in New Zealand in late 1800's. In Waihi there is still a working open cast mine today that produces millions of dollars a week. The old guy ... read more

We've packed a lot into our first full day on the North Island. After landing yesterday, we rented a car and Brian had a crash course (pun intended) in driving on the left side of the street. (He actually didn't crash, but there were a couple of white-knuckle moments). We got lost trying to leave Auckland - it's really confusing to get onto the motorways here, if you're picky about going in the right direction. Once we were headed in the right direction, we drove about two and a half hours to Whitianga, via a very windy, narrow, unpaved road through the mountains. The locals were impressed we took that route, and were doubly impressed to learn that we did it in a little four-door Mazda, rather than a 4-wheel drive. Whitianga is a resort town ... read more