Although we woke up with a beautiful view over the rolling hills of Matamata, we also woke up to a flat tyre. And, in typical fashion, as soon as we started to work on it, the heavens decided to open. Cue me running inside whilst Rob rolled around in the mud and grease outside. Luckily it wasn’t Rob’s first time so he had it off in a jiffy. Less fortunately however, he had not accounted for the soft ground which was getting softer by the minute, so there was a little difficulty getting the new one on as we (he) watched the jack sink into the ground. Thankfully the campsite owner was a bit of a gem and volunteered to help in the mud, and after a few enthusiastic grunts they got it fixed in the end. The final night in our camper was the best. We found the jackpot of all free campsites, a grassy, uncrowded parking area on a spit of land in Bowentown. We arrived with enough time to go for a romantic walk along the beach for sunset, watching the fishermen try their luck in the last of the dusk swells, really beautiful. We read about a little secret swimming cove via the Campermate app just a short walk away, the perfect morning wake up as the sun rose. Our friend James has very kindly offered us his beach house in Whangapoua, Coromandel for a few nights. We are so looking forward to be able to chill out and stay still for a few days. En route we stopped off via Hot Water Beach, a beach that has natural hot springs running under it. You have to catch it when the tide is out, hire a spade and dig yourself a little pool out of the sand and bathe in the warmth. We weren't the first to hear about this place. it was rammed and actually a little unpleasant as everyone just rolled around like beached whales in puddles of hot water. Fun to see but I was done after ten minutes. We arrived at James’s perfect little cabin just in time for sunset. The view was incredible, we feel very lucky to be able to call this place home for the next few days. THANK YOU JAMES! The highlight of Coromandel is undoubtedly New Chums Beach, one of New Zealand’s finest. After clambering over the rocks and walking through the forest you are greeted with the most insane beach which we had pretty much to ourselves. Our next days expedition was to visit Cathedral Cove. In retrospect we should have been more organised and visited this on our way up to Whangapoua as it was on route, but as always we don’t like to make things easy for ourselves. Not sure why it's called Cathedral Cove, I will have to google it! Hard to describe it, but there is a reason this place os on the tourist map. Sadly we didn't have it to ourselves but the sky was blue and the view was awesome. The next few days were filled with long lie-ins, good food, too much wine, sunsets and beach walks. I now have another bag of shells that will be shipped home with my “jade”. We even came across some seal tracks on the beach one afternoon but alas he was no where to be seen. The time has come to leave this little pocket of heaven and make our way to Auckland. I am not going to lie, I wasn't happy about having to leave. A lunch stop at The Coromandel Mussel Kitchen was a brief distraction. Due to having to drop off the camper, we got to the airport nice and early. The upside to this is that we were able to discuss upgrade options. Upgrade, I think, is one of my favourite words. Hello the SKY COUCH. The clever folk at Air New Zealand have made your ‘flying in economy comfortably’ dreams a reality. For a bargain amount of only 100USD, you get the third middle seat “for free” and foot rests that come all the way up to meet the back of the seats in front of you, hence making a couch. Throw in a soft quilted sheet to lie on and a few massive fluffy pillows and I’d say it's moderately comfortable like business class. Well, minus the fillet steak and champers on tap.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |