After a lazy start we drove up the road for about 20 km to the local regional park. In fact we drove considerably further as M didn’t believe the the sign for the entrance was correct. As a result we saw some beautiful coastline and a lot of problems with erosion. The road had been partially washed away in several places.
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Our walk took just over an hour and went up through native forest with occasional views down to the coast.
I love sunlight on the ferns
We saw some beautiful coral lichen too
This area is very special for migrating birds and we quickly called in at the Shorebird Centre on the way back. Birds migrate to and from the Artic here.
The beach looked inviting so we stopped thinking we might sit and have a drink. But the shell sand was so white it was much too bright for us and we came back to the capmpsite.
Looking across the Firth of Thames to the Coromandel
It was so hot we had to retreat to the shade to have a drink and lunch. The original plan was to have lunch out and we wandered out to the cafe next door, but we were not impressed, so we made some lunch here. We are finishing off all the bits and pieces tonight, and will splash out on a meal tomorrow night!!
This afternoon we emptied all the cupboards and began to pack, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. There are lots of others doing their packing here too today!
The school choir have been practising on and off all day, they sound fantastic! We have really enjoyed listening to them.
Tomorrow we will deliver the van back and go to the Sudima Hotel at the airport, we may have time to go into the city, not sure yet. We leave Auckland at 9.0 am ish on Saturday to fly to Hanoi via Hong Kong which will be about 20hr travel with transfers etc. After Sunday in Hanoi we are all going to Ang Bang Beach for a few days, near Hoi An.
Signing off from NZ, hope you have enjoyed the trip!
Fabulous blog Liz, especially as we are also enjoying this great country. Safe trip, see you in Blighty.
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