The Coromandel

Coromandel 

Loved the people so kind and friendly everywhere we went. Coromandel town or what to us was oyster land thanks to our bus driver taking us right to the door of the distribution center.   Up the 309 on our free bikes from Anchor Lodge past a wild pig farm and Water Works, a water park concocted of recycled things like bikes, toilets and bathtubs galore.  Creative to say the least though we didn't try the rides it's uniqueness appeared from the first step onto the property.  Said to be the largest water park in NZ.  

Kauri trees are famous here not only for the massive size but their species dating back to dinosaur times.  They do have strange prehistoric feel to them or something out of avatar.  Definitely ones to hug.

Whitianga, a small town where we finally found some free Wifi which turned out to be quite slow but free still nice and quite rare in this expensively beautiful country.  
Just a minute ferry ride across the bay we landed on the road we'd hitch hike from to Cathedral Cove from with our new friend Simon from Quebec.  (hitchig short rides in this country is very common and entirely safe we've come to find, and it turns out it's the best way to meet the locals). His French accent has you wondering where he's really from but he turned out to he quite a unique 23 yr old just out of law school traveling to decide what he really wants to do with his life.  Long hair and a red beard like Jesus shows he's a weathered traveler with loads of advice he was nice enough to impart to us.  His time in SE Asia proved to be a good learning ground from unfortunate experienced and some lucky learning.  He was kind enough through stories to teach us about the people and ways to get around trouble.  First week of the trip and we learned how to save money on laundry that seems to be a rip off everywhere you go.   At 2 dollars a scoop of soap and average of 7 dollars to wash and dry its a trick we dared not fall for.  We had been doing it by hand from day one with the soap strips we bought in the US but with our new trick with the machines we can wash for free.  Just one of the many gifts Simon gave us! 

We got picked up by a very nice local "mucking around for the day" with his son who's a life guard at one of the tourist traps we never made it to.  We did find a black sand beach swirled with the deteriorating white sand stone.  "Magic sand "beach is what we named it as we played around and made designed in the colors.  Farther up we searched for the well known clams that are said to grow as big as oxygen dive tanks of which you're allowed 20 per person per day.  We didn't find any in the cold shallow water and may have been too far north anyway.  But we searched and had a blast doing it.  

We stopped for a rest on another unnamed beach we called Salt and Pepper beach for its even mix of heavier black sand that sat right bellow the white. A quick nap and we headed back again for another try home with our thumbs and met some more great people on holiday or just heading home from a day at the beach. It was well worth the experience and the people we met.