We got up and showered in the questionable amenities block (at least the water was hot-ish). Neither of us were sad to leave Coromandel, though I think it would have been much better in summer... and at a different campsite! We had a slow drive down the West coast of the Peninsular, stopping at a few picnic sites to take in the view. When we arrived at Thames, a large town, we were pleased to find a Pak n Save - our favourite cheap supermarket! So we went and st...

This morning we set off for a much shorter drive than yesterday! We drove North towards Cathedral Cove and parked at the DOC carpark overlooking the bay. From the top, the view was spectacular and one of my favourites so far, looking out over the cliffs towards the ocean. We set off on our walk, which turned out to be quite energetic - up and down lots of steps and hills, but well worth the effort. The first place we came to was Gemstone Bay, down a short side t...

Today we drove ALL day! We left the DOC site at 9am, drove South through Auckland, then up the Coromandel Peninsula to Hot Water Beach, where we arrived at 4pm. We had to fill up with petrol twice on the way! We had lunch at a service station just south of Auckland, and treated ourselves to a McDonald's and used their free wifi. On the way to the Coromandel, we managed to take a wrong turn somehow, so added an hour and a half onto the journey...oops! It was a ve...

Today we hit the road again, with a few stops on our drive further down the east coast of the Northlands region. Our first stop was Kawakawa to see the famous toilets designed by Austrian-born artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (who liked to meditate on the loo!). It's a small, unremarkable town with the most colourful toilets we've ever seen - lots of wavy lines decorated with ceramic mosaics and brightly coloured bottles! We only stayed for a few minutes, to us...

This morning we had a lie-in until 9:45, and we didn't end up leaving the campground til 11am as we got chatting to John again - more tips for us! Eventually we headed out and drove to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This was where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British and the Maoris, which gave the Brtitish control of New Zealand in exchange for promising the maoris possession of their lands. A historic place, referred to as the birthplace ...