Hahei Horizon Bed & Breakfast

... The kayak back was even harder and the wind was very gusty, there was a higher chance of being flipped! I didn't much like the sound of that but soldiered on, whimpering. We managed to make it through a cave and around a small island before getting back to Hahei. We followed this by having a nice meal at the Grange. Neil had a massive Kiwi burger, this consists of a large burger, a fried egg, beetroot, lots of onions, tomato and lettuce. We were rather stuffed.

... heisst auf englisch 'stray' und ich hab mich noch in auckland entschieden bei straytravel einen buspass zu erwerben, welcher mich von auckland nach christchurch bringt. Dies allerdings (wie der firmenname andeutet) nicht auf direktem weg sondern mit diversen umwegen, stopps und aktivitäten unterwegs. was mir daran am besten gefällt ist, dass ich auf diesem weg so oft ein- und aussteigen kann wie ich möchte. Diese 'ausstiegsklausel' hab ich ...

... letting the hot water heat me up and I end up running to the freezing sea and jumping into the waves with delight just like some others I thought fools before.



Having time left before the evening dawns and the sky having cleared up again we drive to Mercury Bay where we tourists amongst locals take the ferry over to ...

We said our goodbyes to Frisbee and headed along the coast to the Coromandel Peninsula. We made it all the way to Hahei driving along the winding road looking at the stunning scenery. We camped at the Hot Water Beach Campground so we could go straight to the beach tomorrow. The campsite was brand new with great facilities so we ate dinner and watched tv then hunkered down for the night in our spaceship.

In the ...

The last few days I spent in Taupo with Liam, Alexa, Gill and Natalie. Taupo is an awesome, chill, small town on the edge of Taupo lake and was an awesome place to relax and set up camp for awhile. The hostel we stayed at (Go Global) was killer, especially because for most of the time i had a dorm room to myself with ensuite bathroom. It had a bar downstairs with a $10 dinner+beer menu and the x-base right across the street. It was wicked getting to hang out ...

... being in NZ, there is so much fresh natural food available it's easy. After lunch we spent a couple hours in the internet café, to learn Julie's brother Mark was now coming out to join us for a few weeks in Perth, so that will be great to catch up with him. Auckland Botanical Gardens are set on a hillside south of the city, the gardens are free! And there is a nice restaurant serving tasty meals and snacks. The gardens make for a very peaceful afternoon ...

... the edge of the cliffs. There are quite a few ups and downs, but it's generally a pretty light walk. You get some magnificent views from the pathway. Cathedral Cove itself is a really tranquil and unspoilt place. You could easily just lose yourself here for the day. Again, the beach was almost empty, which made it better. We took the one hour walk back to the park in Hahei. We had a 5 bed dorm here which we shared with two girls from South Africa (Sandri ...

... to me from Auckland and would take 2-3 days due to my rural location, what they actually meant to say was that it's just left China. Quality Cameras has just joined Top Dog Travel Insurance and the Auckland Police on my current list of useless idiots. It seemed pointless to spend any more time waiting around for it to arrive, so I arranged for it to be sent on to the address I'll be staying at in Auckland, and left Coromandel to do some more ...

... we decided to give it a miss and hit the road instead. One lesson I learned I would like to share, if you get the opportunity to walk the impressively scenic sea facing track to and from Cathedral Cove take my advice and don't do it in flip flops otherwise like me you may end up with a large painful blister on the sole of your feet. I know I'm pushing it for sympathy with the whole beachside paradise thing but it's really sore ...