We had two beautiful, sunny days to explore the area. We travelled up into the hills through native bush land, on a little train which was originally built to bring down fuel for the artist's kiln. The train now has so many passengers that it helps to fund a protection scheme for the endangered kauri trees. We intended to have lunch at the mussel kitchen as advised by our B&B host, but it seems that everyone had the same idea, so we decided to press on. Coromandel town was delightful. Only about 1100 people live there and it has a reputation for being a centre for artists. On then to the eastern side of the peninsula to see Cathedral cove - didn't quite get there as it was SUCH a long walk, but got the idea, and then on to the hot water beach, where, at low tide, you can dig your own bathing hole which fills with warm or even hot water. Again, looked like the world and his wife had the same idea, so we just had a lie on the beach and watched the digging crowd.
For our last night we headed back to Auckland, which we had really liked when we briefly visited in October. What a difference this time though. The weather was awful, wind, rain and it was really cold. Not the summer weather we had been promised for January! Still, we enjoyed our stay, taking the ferry over to Devonport and visiting the Auckland art gallery. Learned later on Monday that there had been another 6.2 earthquake in the south of North Island, with Wanganui experiencing scary shaking similar to the one we had in August. Once again although there was structural damage (horror of horrors, the huge Lord of the Rings eagle fell from the roof at Wellington airport!), nobody was hurt. We didn't feel anything in Auckland!
Back in Wanganui now tring to pack. How on earth will everything fit in? On Sunday, Barbara and Dave will join us for a couple of nights in Wanganui before we all set off on a trip to South Island. Oh, by the way, we didn't see any cannabis growing in the Coromandel!
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