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Published: November 5th 2011
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After our adventures with the glow worms we had a long hot shower (our kind guides had explained the secret behind the glowing worms - they were pooing, which is fluorescent in the dark!) before hitting the road for another epic road trip. This time we had chosen Coromandel Town as our next destination, some 227km away but a lot of it on narrow winding roads hugging the coast line, the last 30 minutes of which was in the dark. We were treated to a beautiful sunset though and as usual Ade did all the driving. The holiday park we stayed in was empty but seemed very nice in the dark. The Coromandel Hotel across the road provided a decent dinner and some tasty local beverages. When we returned to the campsite Ash logged on to learn she has passed her latest exam (hurray!!) and that her brother was off to Slovakia to sit a medical school exam.
The next morning we got up super early to go on the Mussel Barge Snapper Safari (the fishing barge follows around mussel barges which are picking, cleaning the mussels and throwing the gunk in the water thus attracting the fish life). Ash
had made the unwise decision to wear her white skinny jeans and received a few knowing looks from the seasoned veterans in their rain gear and wellies. We soon got stuck in to cutting up frozen salty pilchards (a small fish, similar to mackerel) with the rest of them and attaching them to our hooks. It was cold out on the boat just sitting around waiting and 5 hours was a long time out on a boat with blood and guts abound. Plus, we had no experience of feeling the bite of the nibbling fishies so it took awhile to catch anything. Eventually, we caught some small mackerel (which ended up being chucked later) followed by some bigger trevally. One guy caught a John Dory which was magnificent to see. A kind lady offered us her fish box to take our catch home in and Ade got some valuable lessons on gutting fish – gross!! We took half of our catch to the local fish & chip shop and they cooked it up for us. Delicious!
The Tutukaka Coast, 347km away, was the next stop and poor Ade had to return down the same windy road we’d taken the
night before heading up the opposite side, through Auckland. Again we arrived at night and again the campsite was empty. We had a fantastic meal at Schnappa Rock next door to the dive shop we’d be at bright and early the next day. We were in this area to dive the famed Poor Knights. The water was a cool 15 degrees celcius / 59 degrees farenheit and all the dive staff were wearing dry suits, which were way toastier than our wetsuits. Our first dive, at Tye Dye Arch, was spectacular but the second wasn’t great. We spotted some seals on the rocks and Ade hopped in to swim around with them but unfortunately they were not in such a playful mood.
The Bay of Islands, Paihia, was where we ventured to the following day. Ade had remembered staying in a campsite backed on to a waterfall from his previous visit so we looked it up and stayed at Haruru Holiday Park looking out at Haruru Falls. We paddled out to them on the kayak’s provided though the low tide meant we beached a few times. One of the reasons we were in town was so Ade could give
Mussel Barge
More gunk please ! swimming with dolphins one more try, this was his third attempt. Luckily the clouds rolled back and the sun sparkled down so our view of the islands on the boat trip was sublime. Soon after we’d set off the captain announced he’d had a call spotting dolphins and off we went at high speed. Sure enough a pod was out playing and we watched them spin and jump. For a few minutes the crew assessed whether any baby dolphins were in the pod, if there had been we couldn’t have swum, but luck was on our side and after a quick briefing the swimmers were suited up and slid in, Ade first. They swam fast taking directions from the roof of the boat and making loud silly noises but it paid off as they had very close encounters with a few dolphins and Ade was deemed the best at interacting with them. He ducked and dived and swam in circles and the dolphins imitated him and played for ages. It was fun to watch too.
From Paihia we drove up to the Waipoura Kauri Forest to check out some enormous 2,000 year old trees then down to Auckland. We
stayed at a hostel called Verandah’s (which was one of the best we’ve ever seen) in a well-to-do suburb called Ponsonby (or Pon Snobbery to the locals). Here we unloaded the van and got it ready for return which was due the following day. After we bid the van adieu we took a short ferry to Waiheke Island where we hired scooters and bombed around for a bit before catching another ferry to Pine Harbour to visit with Ade’s cousin Suzanne, her husband Phil, and their two kiddies Anna and George. We stayed with them 2 nights and enjoyed checking out the city of Auckland; including the Sky Tower and taking the shark bus to see Kelly Tarlton’s Artic Experience. Overall we thought New Zealand was amazing and is definitely in our top 5 countries.
From Auckland we flew to Singapore where we relaxed for a few days in Little India soaking up the hybrid of cultures and enjoyed eating curry 3 times a day for peanuts. Little India was exactly like being in India (as opposed to say Chinatown in London), which we thought was cool. Ash turned 29 here so we hit the town with a group
including some ex-colleagues, Alex and Caroline. This involved a trip to the bars at Boat Quay, dinner at ‘Satay Street’ where hawkers distribute menus of all sorts and we ate and drank for cheap then finally a bar called Chijmes where we knocked back tequila shots chased by tomato juice. Yummy! The stay in Singapore was short but sweet – next stop the Philippines.
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Great photos!
You certainly covered NZ! Loved the photos and particularly the ones of the dolphins and penguins. Glad you had a good birthday!