We bade farewell to Rex and Annette at 08:15 and headed off for Whitianga on the east coast of the Coromandel peninsular. On the way we retraced some of our route from yesterday starting with the Karangahake gold mine trails. The site is now disused but there are various marked routes for tourists and we decided to take the "Windows" path. Along the way we saw the remains of the batteries used to refine the rock to extract the maximum amount of gold, rail tracks rising steeply through the vegetation and finally came to the tunnels hewn in the rock high above the fast flowing river. We had been warned at the start of the walk to take a torch and luckily I managed to ferret out the one we had brought along. Once we reached the tunnels we realised why, they were pitch black, and although there were various windows cut into the rock overlooking the valley and the river there were also tunnels running at right angles straight into the mountain side. We took one of these inner tunnels as far as the first fork before deciding to turn round (those ancient stories of minotaurs started to feel very real!) The windows were used not for light but to allow the miners to dispose of spoil into the river easily without transporting excessive distances.
Further along the route we explored the underground pumphouse used to create steam to power the batteries and also passed a Geology field trip where the lecturer was busy explaining some rock formation.
Altogether the walk was very interesting and well worth the time spent. It also makes you realise that some people had very hard working lives!
We carried on and took Highway 25 north along the eastern coast of the peninsular. Here it is quite mountainous with spectacular scenery that also tested our trusty Rent-a-wreck but we eventually reached the seaside town of Whangamata. We explored the harbour and seafront before deciding we would have lunch and managed to find an excellent cafe on the main street. The special was fish of the day (Snapper) and chips. Presentation and taste were both excellent and I am only sorry I cannot remember the name of the place. Returning to the car we passed a charity shop and decided that as conversation was now starting to dry up (we have been on the road for weeks now!) it was time to purchase some tapes to provide relief from the monotony and the scratchy radio. Who would have thought that Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder could be purchased together for $12.
Next stop was the Hot Water Beach where holes can be dug in the sand to give one a hot spring experience. Unfortunately we arrived too late as holes can only be dug 2 hours either side of low tide (today at it was 10:30) so we drove up the headland to Cathedral Cove. Today was not our day, current time was 15:30, the round trip down to the cove and back was a minimum of 1.5 hours and we still needed to go 40 minutes further to Whitianga to book overnight accommodation. We decided to admire the view from the cliff top and move on.
Arriving in Whitianga we booked a very nice seafront B&B and an express tour to Cathedral Cove via the sea leaving at 09:00.
Spent the rest of the evening chilling, watching the news and typing up blog entries (its not all holiday with a demanding public, thanks for the comments though, much appreciated!)