The Coromandel Peninsular sticks out from the north
island like the thumb of hitchhiker, maybe that's what inspired me
to accept a couple of rides to break up the relentless hills. My
first night was spent in Whangamata where I was treated to a fish dinner
at Ocean Sports Club and a story telling session
with old friends. The town swells over summer when holidaymakers
descend en-masse to make the most of the gorgeous beaches and
native bush. I picked a particularly busy weekend as news spread
there was a dead humpback whale on the beach that needed burying.
The smell was enough to make you retch but I was fascinated
watching the diggers work in tandem to roll the great beast down
the beach to its final resting place. One exciting event was
followed by another with the Whangamata Christmas parade, where
half the town was on a tractor float and the other half was waving
them on.
After Whanga I bounced to Whitianga where my host Sally took me to Kuaotunu beach for a walk along the golden
sand and pizza at Luke's Kitchen. I was well impressed with the
ordering system where a waitress attaches the order to a bicycle
wheel which is then wheeled to the pizza chef.
To avoid the traffic cycling into the city I opted to catch the
ferry from Coromandel town to Auckland which gave us a couple of
hours to explore the township. Gold was discovered here in 1852 and
proof of this can be found everywhere you look, particularly in the
colonial architecture and historic buildings dotted about. They
also do a mean Whitebait fritter if you're into that kinda
thing.
The residents of the Coromandel are renowned for living a hippy,
organic, artsy-fartsy, pot-smoking lifestyle. (Plus there's also
the rich folks moving to buy up and develop some areas.) Potters
and artists make up one of the main professions in the district and
the most famous example is Barry Brickell, a potter whose home-made
Driving Creek Railway has turned into a huge
tourist attraction. In true kiwi style, when faced with the problem
of how to move clay up a steep hillside, he built his own railway
back in the 70's. It goes up steep inclines into the bush until you
reach the 'Eye Full Tower'. Eat your heart out Paris!
I loved catching the Discovery 360 ferry from Coromandel to
Auckland, even on a wet and wild day it was a relatively smooth
crossing and I got a great view of Auckland harbour and the Viaduct
as we arrived.
I'm getting near the end of the NZ leg of this adventure and
another one will soon begin in South America. I can feel nervously
ticklish butterflies zooming around my stomach at the thought
...