Coromandel Colonial Cottages Motel

... of the two holes. This worked out great until the beach really started getting crowded and people started looking at us like we were beach hogs. That is until they stepped in the far end of the hot bit and burned their own toes. I think we perfected the "yeah we're not being greedy" stare! We saw the only little bit of sun all week that morning, and poor Audrey ended up very sunburned.
We spent the afternoon driving to Taupo....

... should be very well done by now, somewhere lost in the sand.

It was a beautiful and calming night, and I slept very well after a two hour soak.

I have two more days of work then I am done, I can probably stay through the weekend, but I think I will leave Saturday so I can make my way down to Taihape at a more leisurely pace. I am going to miss this place. It has been a good experience and I've made some good friends. But I am transient and new adventures are waiting.

... darker side to her. For example, during her free time, she can be found pleasantly knitting a pair of orange jumpers for her friend's twin babies. However, she can swear like a sailor and has shared stories of crazy parties and strip clubs. She is a very thoughtful, kind woman who also likes to joke around and laugh.

Those are the four with whom I spend the vast majority of my time. I will describe the rest of the cafe workers another time, but I am a bit tired now.

I ...

... what I'm going to do. Michal said he has a kayak I can take out, so I may do that. I guess it depends on the weather, my mood, and...well I guess that is about it.

The final wwoofer arrived today. She is a German girl on her gap year between high school and university. Her name is Lisa, and she seems pretty nice, but I haven't talked with her enough to know much about her.

I made cheese and spinach ...

... nuts and then sharpened and cleaned tools for the week's work. We had a delicious pumpking soup and some good conversation. All day we were expecting Ollie from the UK to show up, but he seemed to have disappeared. That is, until we all decided to retire for the night. I was walking back to the two-story bunkhouse where I'm sleeping and a campervan rolls up. I introduce myself and meet Ollie, a scatter-brained Welshman who seems to have lost and found ...

... place to be. Went for a long walk around to the next headland. From there I could see Shakespeare's lookout where I was yesterday. Back into town around midday and wandered around the shops, had coffee and read for a while in the café. Quite cool and not great beach weather. Have spent the afternoon typing and selecting photos to put onto this site. Don't want to overload it but at the same time put enough detail in. Been a nice day. The weather is supposed to be better for the weekend.

... and it was hard to get a spot where there would be hot water. You can only get to Hot Water beach when the ocean is at low tide. Two days ago David Beckman came to New Zealand. Beckman played against a team in New Zealand. We watched the news and it showed him in the airport with his team being greeted by his screaming fans.

... of out trip. Out first destination was The Coromandel Pennisula. The weather driving up was around 20, so good clear conditions for the trip. The down side was that I had eaten WAY too much chinese along with some wine that Omanu had given me as a going away present. So the windy roads and my stomache did not agree. But we made it to the hot water beach and dug our make ...

We leave Auckland fairly early and drive out to the Corromandel peninsular, the drive is really beautiful and more what we expected from the Bay of Islands. The road takes us all along the coast to Corromandel town which is a small sleepy looking town at the centre of the Corromandel. After having a little walk around the town we drive up to the Corromandel range which gives a wonderful view ...

... more traffic, plus there are some shops and restaurants. Had a wander round the shops and some lunch before heading back to the ferry. Shopped for a few souvenirs when we got back to the city, then back to the hotel to start getting ready to leave. Had a suitably memorable dinner for our last night - just a bit of a stab in the dark because it was the first place we looked at down at the Viaduct Harbour. Speciality of the house was food served on hot stones ...