Whangamata Feb 11

We were up early this morning to take advantage of the free internet. Our host, Sheryll booked us into another Host Accommodation Motel at Auckland Airport for tomorrow night; the free airport shuttle meant Liz could spend time at the pool versus the airport. Today we visited the Coromandel peninsula. Instead of counting sheep as we drove away from Rotorua we counted hotspots where steam & vapour escaped from the ground. There was also the cooling tower of Ohaaki geothermal power station; first a panic when we thought it was a nuclear power plant on these very unsettled grounds! What can I say it was early & usually a cooling tower means nuclear to us – how hot is hot!
Remember the 100K climb to Taupo yesterday, well today we drove down the other side! We drove Pyes Pass, an absolute engineering feat & lots of money! The road’s been upgraded; cliffs reinforced with steel mesh & bolted into the rock face. It is still a roller-coaster decent to the Bay of Plenty & the South Pacific Ocean. We were surrounded by very tall trees, higher than most hydro poles. The practice seen on the South Island to use trees as windbreakers continues here, protecting orchards. Avocado, apples, oranges and soft flesh fruit orchards tempt us with their fresh fruit & vegetable stands; but the familiar phrase comes to mind “you can’t take it with you” on an airplane this time!
The road to Whangamata (‘wh’ is an ‘f’ sound) was 29K but over an hour’s drive; signs posted warned of winding roads for the next 3 or 4 KM. What should be posted is when to expect straight roads so you can take a breath! We were thankful we would not return this route and hoped the road across the peninsula to Thames was less stressful. Whangamata is a seaside holiday resort with a 4K ocean beach of white powdery sand, sparkling ocean, waves and rock formation views. It was irresistible! We checked into the Blake Court Motel (found in our accommodation books); changed into beach clothes, layered on sun screen then hit the beach! We sent the afternoon on one of the best beaches we’ve found in NZ. We played in the surf, walked the beach (end-to-end) & searched for the best seashell! What a glorious way to spend our last ‘real’ day in NZ, on a jewel of a beach on the Pacific Coast.