Coromandel

Magic Bus to Coromandel

We are in Auckland at Base for the night and today it is off by ferry to Coromandel Peninsula. the weather is a bit drizzley today which is bit of a bummer, but our weather has been so fabulous the whole trip you can hardly complain! We hop on the ferry and head out leaving Auckland behind, passing dormant volcano's and lovely islands. Whaiheke is our first stop to pick up a few people who were staying on the island, a popular getaway for Aucklander's, next stop is a small island with just a farm on it and we pull in to deliver thier mail! After some rough seas and a short nap we arrive in Coromandel and hop a tour bus to get into town..magic has not been real specific on what or where we are going so we try to find out from the tour bus guy who hooks us up with where to stay and what time in the am we will be picked up...we are used to Kiwi and having every thing handled and learning other tour companies are not the same!!!

We are staying in Coromandel town at Anchor Point,a really cool hotel/hostel. It reminds me of being in kauai, hilly, tropical and on the ocean. Coromandel is an old gold rush town, today it's one main street is lined with fresh seafood places, shops and cafe's.

We head out of Coromandel in the morning traveling along the coast, through the tropical forests and farm lands. Several mussel and oyster farms are visible along the coast as well as spectacular beaches. We head into Thames for some food and to catch up with the magic bus which will take us onward. Next stop is Whitianga. In Maori "wh" is pronounced "f". On the way we stop off at Hot Water Beach. Again on geothermal beds so when you dig into the sand at low tide the water that comes up is hot, you can make your own hot tub on the beach!!

Next we hike to Cathedral Cove and Stingray Bay. Along the coast a huge spie and hole in the rock washed away by years of erosion, beautiful place for a hike and a swim.

We get to our hostel in Whitianga right on the beach. This is the same beach captain cook moored his boat off in1769 and watched the planet Mercury cross the night sky, hence the area is today known as Mercury Bay. Fun little beachside town, quiet and slow paced.