Easter Saturday

After a very cosy night we woke up to the weather looking pretty grim this morning. When we set off down into town to have breakfast we had to have coats and sweaters on. We went to the same bar as we had lunch on Friday for breakfast and Jon had cheesy scrambled eggs with toast and I had granola, fresh banana and yogurt. It was the biggest bowl of granola I have ever seen and after half a bowl my jaws were aching and I had had enough.

We had to be at the station for the Driving Creek Railway trip by 10.00 and I was very glad I had my coat and Jon had his sweatshirt as the sky looked very black and the cloud was low over the hills we were to go up into.

The train was amazing and we were lucky enough to get on the front seat. I cannot begin to describe this train ride, it was magical and all built by an ex school teacher (now 73 and still working), who is a potter, and wanted to do something for conservation and so bought the land and built the train ride up into the hills (the hills provide the clay for his pottery) and every ride pays for more Kauri trees and other trees to be planted and bring this part of NZ back to the way it used to be. He has never married and has left the whole area to a trust and it can never be sold which is lovely. If you want to see more check out www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz On the ride, and you will see from our photos, the track goes up to an "unfinished bridge" to Auckland, across the estuary. The train goes right to the end of the bridge, and bearing in mind we were at the front, before the driver changes to the back of the train and then drives it up the next hill an amazing engineering structure and I, as you will see see from the photos of clenched fists, was very scared especially when the driver tried to frighten me even more by leaning over to the right!!! Sheer drop!!! When you reach the top you can get out onto a wooden platform which takes you to the top of a wooden tower with amazing views across the estuary and fortunately for us the weather had cleared and we could see very well all the little islands. The family sitting behind us on the train were from Japan and we had great fun changing the backs of the seats to suit our needs depending on whether we were going forwards or backwards, not all the carriages have this facility so the driver told us.

Back at the bottom we visited a very quaint cafe nearby and had a lovely flat white before setting off on our journey along the "309 road".

This is an alternative road to Whitianga where we were staying for the next two nights. It is a gravel road and winds its way up high into the hills. We only wanted to go as far as the "Kauri Grove". On our very scary way we stopped at the pretty Waiau Falls and took a few pics before continuing on to the Kauri Grove. This is a spectacular group of 13 Kauri trees and one Siamese Kauri tree which are 600 years old and sooooo tall and the trunks so thick. They recommend, in the guide books, that you lay down on the board walks to look up at them to appreciate their size, so I just had to do it and if you see the photo of me on the floor that is what it is!! They are amaxing and to think that most of the Coromandel wa covered in these trees before the loggers moved in and cut them all down. They are trying to replant but it is going to take years and years. After seeing the trees we headed back to Coromandel as I did not want to travel further on such a bad road, it really was just like a dirt track!

We were glad we did take State Highway 25 as the views were lovely but we were very glad we were in an automatic car as it is very bendy.

We stopped in a few little places on the way to Whitianga but the prettiest was Kuaotuna which had a lovely beach and it might have helped that the sun finally came through! We found a tiny cafe caravan called "Islalei" which served amazing food and played Polynesian music and was decorated with leis and the owner and the waiter looked like hippies!. We both had BLAT's (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato in a bun with salad and dressing) and they were so good. I asked for tea and he said they had run out but if I went to the cafe next door they would "hook me up" with some tea. And they did and even brought it over to the table we were sitting at - now that is what I call service and all with a smile.

We carried on to Whitanga after a nice walk on the beach where Jon took a photo of a cicada (big cricket to you in UK). How can such a small creature make so much noise.

Out motel in Whitanga was not as pretty asthe cottage in Coromandel but it was right on Buffalo Beach which is very pretty. Right opposite was a big "blubber pot" used in the times of catching whales and used to boil the blubber for the oil, ugh!

It was about a ten minute walk to town and we set off in the evening to have a look around. It is quite a small town, but then most of them are. We walked around the harbour and saw the little passenger ferry which crosses over to Ferry Landings (a 35km drive by car) and walked back along the beach and saw all the shells that are washed up. It reminded me of a place in Devon we visited and I can't remember the name but it had lots of shells from the Gulf Stream.

When we went out to dinner, walking again, there was a police roadblock and they were stopping and breathalysing EVERYONE! They caught two while we were walking past and it was only 7.15. It is not worth taking a chance here.

We went to the pub for dinner, the first one I have been to since I got here. We had a lovely steak and chips and salad and it was really cheap and very, very, good. The only problem was we had to wait for 50 minutes and so I drank two glasses of wine and Jon had two beers and then we had a bottle of wine with our dinner. Not an awful lot but more, much more, than we are used to now and we had a very funny walk back home, most of which I can't remember! I just remember the moon was very bright! The electric blanket was most welcome again!