Friday, January 1, 2010

Coromandel

Saturday morning we left home at 8am and caught a bus into Auckland CBD. Picked up our ferry tickets at the quay and then sat waterside to enjoy freshly baked muffins and coffee. The ferry departed at 9AM and a 2 hour trip took us to the Coromandel.

Coromandel

The ferry route had a drop off at Waiheke Island

The remainder of the journey was beautiful ocean, viewed from the top deck where we sat in the sun.

The ferry stopped at Hannaford’s Wharf in Coromandel. From there we took a bus into the town and stopped for some lunch. Fresh fish and chips at Peppertree was delicious. We wandered along the main street looking at the arts and crafts shops and then met up with Clayton and Bianca. We took a drive to Whitianga – some seriously curvy windy roads up and over a forest-y mountainous area with views of sea and river. Beautiful! Stopped for a drink at the Wild Hog pub and had some play time in the park along the quay. Later we went to our accommodation for the night – Why Worry BnB. The lodge sits along a ridge of a piece of land sticking out of the coastline – meaning sea views to the front and to the back. The next morning we got a good view of the oyster farming operations down below as the tide was coming in. We had a yummy breakfast with the owners Jennifer and Mark (and their four cats!). They do fishing charters and we are really keen to go back to them for some lessons.

 
 

Joined up with Clayton and Bianca again for a boating charter to see the sights of Coromandel by water. What a spectacular experience! We visited Shakespeare's Cliff, Lonely Bay, Cathedral Cove, The Hole in the Rock, the Marine reserve, Gemstone Bay and Orua Sea Cave. We had a chance to jump in the water and snorkel. The fish were big and small and everywhere. The rock formations were spectacular, and the water hues changed from grey blue, to sky blue, azure blue and turquoise. Amazingly beautiful.


Our ‘boat captain’

The scale of the rock formations was impressive – compare to that little person walking on the beach.

Small islands as a result of volcanic activity

Funky mushroom rock formation

kayaking – a really good way to see the sights
 

Champagne rock

From inside Orua Sea Cave

  

 

Two days that flew by so quickly. We’ll need to go back and explore some more. There is so much of NZ that is on the ‘to do’ list. Next up is Rotorua.

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