The West Coast and Coromandel

The drive north was uneventful, other than the usual period of driving through a mountain region with roadworks and numerous sharp bends with safety speed restrictions. Roadworks and 'steel' roads. Glad we didn't hire a newish car. The state of the paintwork of our car is becoming heavily marked by all of the stones we are getting hit by. Hopefully some of the roads will improve as it gets nearer their high summer season.

The journey was only a few hours so we detoured to the nearest large town, Palmerston North. It's interesting how many of our historical figures are honoured here by things being named after them . The number of Shakespeare's we see is amusing.
Palmerston North is an interesting town based around a large green square area with water features tables and chairs set out in the shade for all to use. There was an art deco building that caught our eye and after we realised it was a gallery and art materiaIs shop we had to visit it. There is always something that catches Bobby's eye to buy, but luckily not too much. During the rest of the visit we managed to get some of the tech things that were needed. A worthwhile stop!

We arrived at our next venue in Foxton Beach realising that there were going to be limitations. Whilst the living area available to us was greater than we expected, the access to a kitchen was not available. This made us look for alternatives, and as there was not a restaurant in the place we headed to the local fish n chip shop for two evening meals. Gurnard and Red snapper with Sweet Potato chips, better than our local, made more so by eating them on the beach.

Beaches here are miles long, and the locals drive on them to get to where they want to stop. Luckily they are not quite highways but Bobby did get annoyed when a car came into her picture. View spoilers!! The beaches where there are no cars, are covered with washed up logs, trees, etc. Never seen so much in one place before.
It was fascinating to see the precautions the area has taken re a tsunami. With notices at the beach and at the edge of town there was a marker designating the edge of the danger zone. We were only just down the road from this. Good choice!

Foxton has really interesting history as it had been at the centre of the NZ flax trade. A lot of the shops were selling goods etc to reflect this. The local library /museum was also well worth a visit. With an exhibition on the Maori and Dutch settlers history in the area. The

former being of greater interest to both of us. It is hard to digest that it is less than 200 years that the 'whites' first came to NZ. The way the visitors cynically conned the indiginous people out of their land and rights was sad to read. A phenomenon the world over, and still occurring.

The next place was just a little further up the west coast, just outside Stratford with views of Mt Taranaki. On route we stopped at Whanganui and solved our camera problem. We had decided not to bring our SLR camera's with viewfinder and because of this were finding we were missing lots of photo's. After a lot of looking for a secondhand camera shop we finally found what we wanted at a Cash Converters for a fraction of the price we expected to pay.

The location was great to explore and after a visit to the local library to use their stronger wifi, we visited a forceful waterfall on the mountain's reserve, Dawson Falls. Beautiful spot. Ended the day in New Plymouth for a coastal walk. Too late in the day to do the full 2 hour walk, but we enjoyed the bit we did. As you will note from the picture the bridge we crossed was an interesting design.

Next morning we drove to Whitianga in the Coromandel Peninsular. A long drive that we didn't have the time to make interesting by any detours. Did stop in a town that had painted cows, like London's

elephant's. Arrived in the peninsular early enough to be able to take the scenic route to our destination. And so visited Coromandel town itself. I immediately had memories of my trip with Claire and the kids as this was an area we had come to and a restaurant we had visited then was still there, no change other than they no longer did the Oyster Bloody Mary's, much to Bobby's relief.

The property we were staying in was just the over the road from the sea, in a beautiful bay. Unfortunately the stream at the back of the property was a trickle so we quickly realised the idea of Kayaking from the property was not going to happen.

Accommodation was more than comfortable, but had limited cooking facilities again. The slow cooker and BBQ were our options and we utilised both in our stay for lamb shanks and Gurnard and Taraniki fish. Had a lazy next day sorting things for the rest of our trip and went to look for Sunday Lunch. Found a Harbour side restaurant with local fish. Great.

The peninsular gets its reputation in part for its beautiful beaches and we visited a number of these during our stay. Each of them uniquely

different; Beautiful unspoilt beaches with sand dunes behind - Beaches backed by lots that had been built on with a range of buildings, modern homes, beach huts, and bach's. (With a golf course it looked like an American Senior's Village) - Hot Water Beach where spring's in the sand that filled holes people dug. Could be really hot. - Cathedral Cove was the most popular with trips out to see the rocks. Too busy for us.

Had a walk along most of these and on one Bobby undertook a mini beach clean. On the same beach we we were captivated by a sea creature we found. Research after found it to be a Blue Bottle Jellyfish. So glad we had left it alone.

Returning one evening we found the perfect watering hole with outdoor tables and good music where we could sit in the sunshine and enjoy an evening drink. Need to move it closer to home. Sad to leave but the beaches of Northland call.