The Coromandel.

We spent a very relaxing day at Port Jackson bay on Saturday, a walk, sitting in the sun, making lace, swimming in the sea etc. We then decided that perhaps we should try to see more of this peninsula , so on Sunday we drove back down 27km gravel road to the outskirts of Colville and then 14km on another gravel road to the DOC site at Waikawa bay. The actual bay is beautiful, but we were disappointed that the camping sites do not have a view of the beach! It was a very large site, which would be heaving in the main holiday season, but was quiet for us. The 41km on these roads took 1hr 15 mins including a couple of photo stops. The second road was in much better condition than the Port Jackson road which is very corrugated in places. We spent another relaxing day, on the beach for an hour before lunch then for me sitting in the shade of the van making lace in the afternoon, whilst Michael disappeared for a couple of hours!!

Today, Monday, we have explored more of the peninsula, driving over the hills to the east coast to Whitianga, where we had coffee, got money, shopped (supermarket!) and dumped our waste. We then continued up and down the twisty coast road, detouring for a break by a beach in the mid afternoon. We are now parked in a farmyard of a small farm in the Kauaeranga Valley to the west of Thames. Before we left home we joined the Native Parks scheme. Various hosts allow campers to park for up to 24 hrs. This is the first time we have used the scheme. The farm grows lavender as well as having stock. They have a small shop called Lavender & Luffas, but it is closed on Monday and Tuesday ;)! . The hosts are Sarah & Ian Thompson, they were welcoming , and told us how to get down to the river so we could swim. Our own private pool!!! It was lovely!

A note about driving on this peninsula: be aware that all the roads are twisty and it takes a lot longer than you think it will to get from a to b!

I am attaching a couple of photos of the views seen on the way, including an example of the forest which we both find very attractive . Tomorrow we are moving to the west coast of North Island to the Raglan, New Plymouth, Taranaki region.....more pastures new!