Sunday 1st March - Are we in the same country?

The sun was shining and it was getting quite warm by around 8.30 am and so we had to get out of bed and have breakfast down in the kitchen area. As we sat outside of the kitchen in the sun having breakfast it was hard to believe we were in the same country based on yesterday’s weather.

We spent a short time sorting out the tent and then headed North on the main SH 25 towards Whangamata where we had a coffee. This is an upmarket little town for people with money who need a place away from Auckland. There are some great houses near the beach with great views and we also spot a very well maintained MG Vintage car. Upon leaving this town we also came across a super looking Morris Minor and a few minutes later a MGB.

The journey so far had been through very hilly country where there had been a certain amount of logging which tends to ruin the view.

After coffee we left and then continued North on SH 25 to Tairua where we stopped for a few moments and then went to Hot Water Beach. This beach is quite unique and you can rent a spade and at certain times of day dig a hole in the sand which then quickly fills with boiling hat water which you can sit in providing your lower parts are quite tough.

We then visited another camp site at Hahei and it is really a very good holiday park which we would certainly stay at another time. The views from the beach are superb with great sand and beautiful colour of the sea with the small islands in the background.

Following a brief lunch overlooking the bay and watching the surfers we continued north until we came to the town of Whitianga which is an old town with major new building of private houses taking place. We passed one area where the houses are built alongside the river where channels have been dug so that the houses are surrounded by water where you can tie up your boat outside your house.

This is a great idea if you have a boat and don’t want to pay Auckland prices but the rest of the town is not so attractive.

We also visited another Holiday Park that we had seen on the web but it was rather basic and not worth consideration.

We decided to head back to Waihi which took about a couple of hours of driving and dropped into the town to do some shopping.

Dinner tonight was steak with a melee of vegetables. Alongside us in the kitchen was a Japanese family who seemed to be cooking for the whole Japanese army but a few minutes later the rest of the family turned up to demolish all that was cooked.

Tomorrow we head to the west coast and drive north again up to Coramandel Town and then go as far as we can on the peninsular.