Sitting in a hotel room in Whangarei, New Zealand. Fourth night in the country - 4 different towns at nightfall (Rotorua, Tapou, Tauranga). We'll be heading to Auckland late tomorrow and will be staying put for 3 days.
Today we started the day in Tauranga - a great little town on the eastern coast of the north island. After checking out of the hotel, we walked down to the beach and grabbed some breakfast.
Tauranga is one of New Zealand's main centers for business, international trade, culture and fashion. The Port of Tauranga is New Zealand's largest port in terms of gross export tonnage.
Our travel plans today included a drive up the eastern coast to explore the Coromandel Region. We started in a town called Waihi. We were able to view a working gold and silver mine. I'm not sure my picture below can show the true size of this hole in the ground. Crazy - and right in the middle of the town.
We next headed north to our 2nd destination - Hot Water Beach. This is a famous beach in the Coromandel Region. There is a setion of the beach where you can dig into the sand and hot water will flow from the ground. People will dig holes and create their own hot-tubs. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we learned that the area where the hot water can be located is only accessible 2 hours before/after low tide. It was a really neat place to see however. It's listed as a Top 10 beach in the world by Lonely Planet.
We continued on making a counterclockwise circle around the Coromandel Region. The clouds were overcast today - so the scenery didn't pop like it did the past couple days. The roads in this area were unbelievably curvy. Great quality - but nothing in a straight line. Great area and known as the summer holiday location for locals -- but it's definitely good to know that you're not getting anywhere quickly in this region.
We next headed straight north through Auckland into the Northland Region of the North Island. That's where we are tonight. Tomorrow we'll explore this area and get back to Auckland by Friday evening. We have a marathon coming up on Sunday. Another exploring day - and then we have to get serious for about 48 hours.
Here's to my favorite phrase used in these parts - "Good on ya". Good night and Good on Ya.
Gold mining
Hot Water Beach
Overlooking Coromandel
Coromandel Region
True New Zealand
Top 10 Beach in World
No comments:
Post a Comment