Coromandel to Auckland

We left Rotorua heading for a peninsula on the East coast very close to Auckland.  The Coromandel is a relatively untouched part of New Zealand considering its proximity to its largest city and it being one of NZ’s most popular holiday regions.  The area is mostly national park with little access to its interior which is mountainous and clad in dense pine forest.  We headed to a DOC campsite which again was close to an old gold mine area which had been abandoned many years ago and we bedded down for the night.  The next day we woke and could not be bothered to move, our usual routine saw us up and on the road by 10am each morning.  Today, not wanting to get up, it took us until 12:00 to get ourselves organised.  Its not that we are bored, far from it, but the constant moving has taken its toll and we are definitely ready to stop for a while and just do nothing.

We headed north on the coast road again being presented with yet more dramatic coastline which we have seen so much of over the past 6 weeks.  It is probably hard to believe but all of it is different and spectacular in its own way and so never gets boring to look at.  We eventually reached a very famous tourist spot on this coast, the Hot Water Beach.  The Hot Water Beach is a geothermal anomaly which can only be enjoyed 2 hrs either side of the low tide.  As we walked on to the beach we saw loads of people all huddled around a small area on the sand digging holes.  We stood and watched them for a while until we worked out where a good spot might be and as the tide went out we started digging a hole in line with the other people but closer to the waterline.  It did not take long to hit gold, hot water rising up through the sand.

Underneath this bit of the beach is a spring of fresh water which underneath that is a pocket of magma heating the water above.  At low tide the sea water retreats enough to be able to feel the effect.  As you dig a hole it is filled with hot fresh water and if you dig a big enough hole you can have your very own hot tub on the beach.  However the water is coming out of the ground at 65d and it doesn’t take long before the water is scalding and too hot to touch let along sit in.  We had picked a genius spot right on the edge of the hot water so we could mix in cold making the temperature just right.  We spent a good few hours sitting on the beach in our hot tub enjoying the sunshine, the lovely beach and the spectacle of loads of people digging their own tub and jumping out like frogs when it got too hot.

Before finding a campsite for the night we headed to Cathedral Cove a few kilometres up the coast.

Cathedral Cove is a isolated bay with a stone arch cut by the sea through the cliffs to another isolated bay.  It was the sort of place you could bring a picnic and just while away a day. 

By the time we got back to the van it was nearly 18:00 and with all the DOC sites down long gravel roads and free camping spots being non existent we had little option left but to headed to Whitianga and into a private campsite which despite the high fee still including a separate charge for the showers!  After Emma’s rage about this issue in Queenstown it was now my turn to rant!  They certainly know how to milk the tourists in NZ.

The next day with nothing more we wanted to see we started our journey towards Auckland with the intention of finding a nice campsite close to a beach to clean the van and pack up our kit.  However as it always happens with the best laid plans we could not find a campsite that fitted the bill and after a few hours of driving ended up in one of the suburbs of Auckland at a Top Ten campsite close to the airport!  Not quite what we had in mind but never mind.  As I booked us in the receptionist asked if we where a pickup or a packup.  Due to the close proximity to the airport and all the rental companies they only get guests who have either just arrived or are just leaving. 

For some reason it took us a whole day to clean the van, wash all our clothes and pack everything away into our backpacks.  Maybe we were just making the jobs last as there certainly wasn’t anything to see where we were staying.  Spotting newbie campervaners we ran round the camp giving away stuff we no longer wanted and doing our bit for the fellow traveller.

The next day we dropped the van back to the rental company and with the deposit returned successfully we had the final grand reveal of the total mileage in NZ…..7000 km in 40 days, even the rental representative asked if we had driven the thing back home!  We made our way back to the Airport and caught the shuttle bus into town and to our hotel.  With the budget looking not so great for November a hotel seemed a little extravagant however surprisingly it was only a few dollars more than the hostels, was in a central location and stuff it, we deserved a bit of luxury for a change.

Auckland is the commercial heart and largest city in NZ and has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world.  Compared with most cities we have been to on this trip its not a big place with the main CBD pretty much occupying a single street down to the waterfront, however its urban sprawl stretches for nearly 20km with people mostly living in single story houses rather than apartment blocks.

NZ has surprised me, especially when you compare it with Australia.  With them being so close and having a very similar history they could not be more different.  NZ is a much more multi-cultural place with a large population of South Islanders and Maori all having an active part in the society unlike the Aboriginals in Australia.  NZ seems to look a little more towards the UK, with news and newspapers reporting on events in the UK and for that matter, in the rest of the world.  Whereas in Australia unless it happens in their own land or the US they are not interested.  NZ and Australia are commercial and political allies however they seem to be very nationalistic towards companies from their own side of the Tasman Sea and both sides will not hesitate to take the micky out of one another in their advertising giving the feeling that there maybe a bit of rivalry. 

So we spent our 3 days in Auckland looking around the shops, sleeping, making the most of having an en suite bathroom and not having to get dressed to go to the loo, showering in the lovely shower and catching up on our TV quota by watching anything that was on.  We even got a chance to watch the final F1 race of the year although having to get up at 02:00 was probably a little extreme.  As we walked around the shops enjoying the summer sun, we were finally reminded what time of year it is and that Xmas is creeping up on us.  It was an odd feeling looking at the Xmas decorations going up all over Auckland whilst being in a t-shirt and shorts!

With the trip now over the journey home begins.  However after such a gruelling journey and not having had a holiday in nearly 8 months we have planned 8 days on a tropical island in Fiji to rest and relax before finally returning to the UK!