WEDNESDAY, 16th October.
Having become somewhat disenchanted with long distance flights and the subsequent waiting around at airports, we sought alternate destinations this year rather than travel to the Northern Hemisphere. After some discussion and much mulling over possible destinations, we decided that New Zealand was the place to go as we could endure the flight from Perth to Sydney, where we'd have a one night stopover with our family there, then fly to Auckland, collect a hire car and enjoy a month long road trip with 12 days on North Is. and 18 days on South Is., visiting places we'd missed out on previous visits.
So here we are in the Land of the Long White Cloud, after a 25 year gap since our last visit and back where 'WE' began more than half a century ago, but that's another story!
We left home on Monday morning, 14th October, arriving in Sydney at about 6pm....on the way from the airport to the family's home it rained steadily but stopped just as we arrived and stayed away as we all walked to their local for an evening meal. Choosing to sit outdoors (under cover) as there was much noise inside, we enjoyed our family time but just when we were ready to leave, the rain came again so we had to wait a while until it eased enough for us to rush home. More chat ensued until it was time for bed, we had an early start in the morning.
On Tuesday morning, 15th October it was back to the airport for the 8.45am AirNZ flight to Auckland which actually left at about 9.30am and after a comfortable flight, we arrived in Auckland only a few minutes after our scheduled arrival time. As our seats were toward the front of the plane, we disembarked quickly, breezed through immigration etc., and were at the baggage carousel in no time at all, had been there only a few minutes when one bag arrived and then waited and waited and waited some more for the second to appear. After about 25 minutes....oh joy! it's here! We then left the airport for the long walk to the shuttle bus stop where we just missed a bus to the car rental place so had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. The sky was overcast and the wind bitterly cold, we chatted to a Malaysian man, waiting with his wife and daughter for a different rental company to collect them, passing the time very pleasantly. Murray at the car rental place was cheerful, friendly and very helpful and we were soon on our way, in the heavy traffic on the freeway at first and stopped at a Woolworths supermarket for a few provisions along the way to our accommodation at Miranda.
After we'd microwaved and eaten our supermarket meals we were ready for bed and had an early, peaceful night.
This morning, Wednesday 16th October, after a leisurely breakfast, showers etc., we packed up and left our comfortable little studio farm stay, making a little detour to the nearby Robert Findlay Wildlife Area to have a wander around seeking wildlife but, the tide was out, as was our timing, most of the birdlife had not yet appeared so there was little to see. We did chat to a couple of ladies, Americans who worked with wildlife but there was no one else there at that time.
From there we headed north towards the Coromandel Peninsula, stopping in Waiomu at the Beach Cafe for morning tea, including fa cakes,
sat in the lovely sunshine and chatted to a man who was travelling around on a motor bike with his small dog, for whom he'd made a compartment which was attached to the back of the bike, had a couple of decent sized portholes and seemed to be rather comfortable (the dog liked it!)
Just a little way past Waiomu, we turned off the main road onto the road leading to a Kauri Forest, parked the car when we could drive no further and began the walk, which we found very pleasant. On reaching a ford in the stream, we chose not to cross as the water lying across said ford was a little too deep for us to wade through,
so we walked back to the car and moving on, we then followed the coast to Coromandel Town, stopping a couple of times for roadworks and taking many photos along the way...at one stop we talked to a couple of motorhomers from Masterton, a little north of Wellington I believe, seniors (like us) who go exploring whenever the mood takes them.
Arriving in Coromandel, we parked the car and went for a stroll along the main street, looked but did not find a dairy so missed out on ice creams, called in to couple of shops and checked out the fsh n chp shop, deciding to come back later as we both fancied fsh n chps for our dinner. We then drove the six kms to Shelly Beach where we're booked in for two nights and have a self contained cabin in a holiday park. Later in the afternoon, we drove back into and through town to a beach at Wyuna Bay,
Then it was back to the fsh n chp shop to buy our dinner, which we ate at a picnic table by the water, attracting a crowd of ducks, seagulls and small birds whose names we don't know. Most of them left after a short time when they realised we weren't sharing!
By the time we'd finished eating it had become very cool, time to go 'home'. Back at camp we rugged up and walked the short walk to the beach to watch and photograph the stunning sunset.
It is very quiet here, not many holidaymakers here at present, we've had a very satisfying day, it was sunny & warm for most of the day and we hope for more of the same tomorrow.
THURSDAY , 17th October.
This morning we drove the short distance to Driving Creek for the 9.45am run on the Driving Creek Railway. There were just 8 passengers and 1 driver on board which was great as when we stopped and alighted twice at viewing sites, there was none of the pushing and shoving which often occurs on similar occasions. The train driver gave a commentary and told the story of Barry Brickel, who fought hard to build the railway which travels through a native forest of regenerating kauri, timu and ferns. It was a fascinating story and a thoroughly enjoyable ride. Mr Brickel is buried on his beloved mountain.
We then drove into Coromandel Town, searched for a computer mouse as ours has sadly died, did not find one anywhere, but as it was nearly midday, visited the bakery and bought lunch of a steak & mushroom pie for Mike and a bacon & egg pie for me, both pronounced excellent. Back to base for a couple of hours, then a drive north along the coast to Colville,
where we bought ice creams on sticks from the general store there and ate them by the beach.
1 comment:
Looks great Mike Feel much better now .Have diabetes under control.Keep blog coming!
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