Up bright and early since we have a fairly long drive today; firstly down the beautiful east coast of Coromandel. The plan is to pass by place where we have stopped before and to have a coffee stop in Whangamata. As always is is a lovely drive and many fine beaches are apparent, particularly around Whitianga and Tairua.
As we passed Tairua we noticed Mount Rowe to the west (obviously named after our good friends in Amberley) but we were confused that Table Mountain was adjacent - have continents changed?
Whangamata proved to be a very busy but very good coffee stop. After a detour around the block looking for a parking space, one magically appeared directly in front of a good looking cafe. Ray has decided that flat whites are preferable to cappuccinos or lattes having a higher coffee to milk ratio and the flat whites at this cafe were particularly good, and more so since they were accompanied by an absolutely excellent ginger slice chosen by the LLW.
Fortified we drove on down towards Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty which is well named since it is obviously very fertile and probably qualifies for the name the Garden of New Zealand. - avos and all kinds of fresh was available at the roadside.
The traffic was heavy around this area and we were pleased to turn south towards Rotorua where suddenly the traffic disappeared. We had originally planned to stay in Rotorua but since every camp site was fully booked we decided to make do with a short stop. Ray decreed that the best way to make use of this time was to deploy the cycles and having safely parked the camper van off we cycled to explore. It turned out to be a great way to see the town and lake and we had a great time making the most of a short stop.
The black swans were there in numbers but it was in Rotorua that we saw the first sign of the recent earthquakes since the museum in the Tudor style bath rooms within Government Gardens is closed indefinitely as the building needs to be extensively surveyed for earthquake damage.
On then for another hour to Lake Taupo which we were very keen to see again since the only previous time we have been here it was grey and gloomy. we were not disappointed; clear blue skies and 27C greeted us on arrival at Taupo town.The camp site is quite enormous and includes two thermal pools one at 36C and the other at 34C. These can wait until tomorrow. the LLW needed to finish off some work so Ray took to the bike again for 30 mins.
It had been decided well in advance that this was the evening for a curry. It is clear that now there are a lot of Kiwi's of sub continent origin and Indian restaurants have popped up everywhere. We had a very good meal and strolled back to the camper van enjoying a wonderful sunset across the lake.
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Whangamata proved to be a very busy but very good coffee stop. After a detour around the block looking for a parking space, one magically appeared directly in front of a good looking cafe. Ray has decided that flat whites are preferable to cappuccinos or lattes having a higher coffee to milk ratio and the flat whites at this cafe were particularly good, and more so since they were accompanied by an absolutely excellent ginger slice chosen by the LLW.
Fortified we drove on down towards Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty which is well named since it is obviously very fertile and probably qualifies for the name the Garden of New Zealand. - avos and all kinds of fresh was available at the roadside.
The traffic was heavy around this area and we were pleased to turn south towards Rotorua where suddenly the traffic disappeared. We had originally planned to stay in Rotorua but since every camp site was fully booked we decided to make do with a short stop. Ray decreed that the best way to make use of this time was to deploy the cycles and having safely parked the camper van off we cycled to explore. It turned out to be a great way to see the town and lake and we had a great time making the most of a short stop.
The black swans were there in numbers but it was in Rotorua that we saw the first sign of the recent earthquakes since the museum in the Tudor style bath rooms within Government Gardens is closed indefinitely as the building needs to be extensively surveyed for earthquake damage.
On then for another hour to Lake Taupo which we were very keen to see again since the only previous time we have been here it was grey and gloomy. we were not disappointed; clear blue skies and 27C greeted us on arrival at Taupo town.The camp site is quite enormous and includes two thermal pools one at 36C and the other at 34C. These can wait until tomorrow. the LLW needed to finish off some work so Ray took to the bike again for 30 mins.
It had been decided well in advance that this was the evening for a curry. It is clear that now there are a lot of Kiwi's of sub continent origin and Indian restaurants have popped up everywhere. We had a very good meal and strolled back to the camper van enjoying a wonderful sunset across the lake.
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