Driving around Auckland has not gone well either time for Mike and I. After we picked up the van and were trying to head north, Mike was driving and it took us forever to reach "the motorway." In our second stab at it, I was driving to the airport and we still ended up going wrong ways and turing around and such. We picked up our new partner in crime ~ Nicole ~ from the airport on Wednesday morning. The three of us will be traveling together down to Wellington and then Nicole is flying back to the US. (Mike and Nicole are friends from studying abroad in college and have traveled together before.) Nikki is a hardworking CPA who just left her job at Ernest & Young for another position. We get along well and it's a nice bonus for Mike and I. She certainly livens up conversation and everything that has sort of gone stale with Mike and I.
In Auckland, we poorly navigated the streets, walked around a bit, I picked up my new iPod from the Mac store since mine was "faulty" and we went to Mount Eden for sunset. Then we worked out what our general gameplan was going to be for the next few days. We headed south and out to the Coromandal Peninsula. We drove and drove until we decided upon a quiet spot to camp. We aren't that picky for where to camp. Basically we look for a quiet spot that is a safe place to park and doesn't have a "no camping" sign. We parked off the super windy road in a spot that is right on the water, waking up to the ocean this morning. Yummy.
While the temperature is a bit chilly, with three of us squished in the camper van we manage to stay perfectly warm. We had simple sandwiches for dinner and slept deeply by the water. After breakfast, we were back on the road again. We stopped off in Coromandel Town which was adorable. It's a very quaint small town. We found a little organic shop and Nicole who is also a choco-holic and I bought some fudge. Then we scavenged the thrift store. Mike bought a NZ wool hat, 5 old magazines from the 60s, and a gift for $3.50. Ahh, how I love cheapness.
We then headed towards Cathedral Cove for a walk. The walk starts on a lovely beach and our first stop on the walk was Stingray Bay. A cute little cove, it had lots of information about snorkeling but was a bit too chilly for us to go for a swim. Next stop was another little cove with cavern walls made of chalk. Needless to say, the beach was beautifully white. Continuing on, we did make it to Cathedral Cove. There was a little party on the far end of the beach that looked like they might be getting married ~ of course we tried to be discreet about our snooping looks, but they seemed a bit involved in whatever type of ceremony they were doing and didn't seem to notice us too much. By the time we finished with this longish walk, the sun was starting to set. A lovely day and the weather was pretty decent. Yippie. We trodded onward towards Waitomo Caves thinking there would be A.) A pub B.) an All Black's NZ Rugby Game and C.) Food at said pub. We found none of the three when we arrived at about 10 pm.
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