Coromandel Peninsula

After the night in Matakana we drove off to explore more of the North Island of New Zealand.

That first took us past Auckland and then towards the north-east of the island where we wanted to see the Coromandel Peninsula. Coromandel is famous for the beautiful nature and the hot water beach.

Drive-by in Auckland... / Vorbeifahrt an Auckland...

The drive there was a bit of a hassle since the highways lead us over some hilly area with lots of twists and turns which are especially annoying for the person on the passenger seat (which most of the time was Mishell-who also gets carsick).

But the drive took us as well past some beautiful beaches and some smelly beaches (which Mishell identified as the smell of mussels - as it turned out there are LOADS of mussels around this area).

A beautiful beach at the Coromandel coast / Ein schöner Strand entlang der Coromandel Küste

A beautiful scenery on the Coromandel Peninsula / Eine wunderschöne Landscahft auf der Coromandel Halbinsel

And some more smelly beaches - Mishell correctly identified the smell as 'mussels' / Und ein nicht so gut schmeckender Strand - Mishell hat den Geruch richtigerweise als 'Muscheln' identifiziert

Another long drive...but finally we made it to Coromandel Town / Nach einer weiteren langen Fahrt haben wir es endlich geschafft: Coromandel Stadt

After a long day in the car, a walk in the evening helps relax the muscles / Nach einem langen Tag im Auto, hilft ein Spaziergang am Abend

Trying to be Asian ("Victory sign") / Ein Versuch asiatisch zu sein mit dem 'Victory' (=Erfolg) Zeichen

And the original.... :) except in a ruder manner... / Und das Original... :)

Notice Pasci's beard....he tried to grow it :) / Beachte Pasci's Bart...er versuchte ihn wachsen zu lassen :)

The Asian-buns marching off.... / Das Asiatische-buns marchiert weiter...

And finally we did it....o.k. let's go home and cook dinner! / Und dann haben wir es endlich geschafft...o.k. lass uns nach Hause gehen und Abendessen kochen!

We decided to leave the hot water beach to the next day and stay overnight in Coromandel where we stayed in cabin at a Backpacker's place. And this was definitely one of the nicer backpackers we stayed at which even had a trampoline which Mishell of course had to give it a try!

A fellow backpacker was given a pot of green-lipped mussels by some local which he barbequed and invited everybody to try. And according to Mishell the mussels were delicious :)

Bouncing Mishell / Hüpfende Mishell

Hoovering Mishell / Schwebende Mishell

The green lipped mussels which are very common on the Peninsula and easy to catch! / Die Muscheln welche sehr verbreitet sind auf der Halbinsel und einfach zu fangen!

Barbequed by our backpacker-buddy..... juicy & DELICIOUS! / Grilliert von unserem Freund..... Köstlich!

Our backpacker lodge / Unsere Backpacker-Unterkunft

Another 1 and half hour drive took us to the Hotwater beach the next day. Not really sure what to expect we were curious what exactly is going on there. The info signboard explains that there is a hot rock underneath the beach which heats up the water and results in the hot water springs. So...how does it work now?

People - like in a mad gold rush - have to dig their holes about 30cm deep in order for the hot spring to fill it up with hot water. It would be quite cool really...if it would not be very hot anyway (28 degrees). Mishell and Pasci both tried to step in in the hot water pool in which some dudes were literally boiling their balls away and it was really, really hot... We both couldn't stand the heat for very long (just a few seconds!). There was steam coming out of a couple of the pools!

So we do not really understand these fellows there...but it is a very popular place with a very mixed crowd (families, retirees, youg people etc).

Will there seriously be hot water? Can not imagine.... / Wird es da wirklich heisses Wasser haben? Können wir uns nicht vorstellen...

The explanation to the mystery....there is a seriously hot stone underneath! / Und die Erklärung des Mysteriums....es hat einen sehr heissen Stein unter der Erde!

'Why are these dudes boiling their eggs??' / 'Warum kochen diese Kerle ihre Eier??'

A serious mass destination here.....!! / Es hatte sehr viele Leute hier....!!

Unfortunately you can not see the steam coming up....the water was THAT hot! / Leider könnt ihr den Dampf nicht sehen....das Wasser war SO heiss!

Having experienced the hot beach we went on to look for another beautiful spot here the so called: Cathedral Cove. A short hike took us to a remote beautiful beach sight with some rock formations. After some time lingering around the beach we had to go back and continue our drive to look for an accomodation for the night.

The next sight on Coromandel Peninsula: Cathedral Cove / Die nächste Sehenswürdigkeit auf der Coromandel Halbinsel: Cathedral Cove

Everyday an apple.....so healthy!!! / Jeden Tag einen Apfel....so gesund!!!

The first bay is called: Stingray Bay....although we did not see any! / Die erste Bucht hat: Stingray Bucht....leider haben wir keine gesehen!

Is this what named the bay...i.e. cathedral Cove?! / Ist die Bucht nach dem benannt....also Cathedral Bucht?!

Enjoying the time at the beach..... / Wir genossen die Zeit am Strand....

Too bad we didnt have our swimsuits with us...the water was beautiful! / Schade dass wir unserem Badzeug nicht mitverbracht haben - das Wasser war schön!

We ended up in a cabin at a Caravan Park at Tauranga which is just next to our destination for our next hike on the next day: Mount Manganui.

Our standard cabin (without bathroom this time)...no TV....but a fridge! / Unsere Standard Kabine (ohne Badezimmer dieses mal)...kein TV....aber ein Kühlschrank!

Our dinner cooked by Mishell: Barbequed pork in hoisin sauce with noodles, fried egg and watercress soup *SLURRRP* / Unser Abendessen gekocht von Mishell: Grilliertes Schweinefleisch in Hoisin Sauce mit Nudeln, Spiegelei und Wasserkresse Suppe *SLURRRP*

And after dinner we had some work on our blog, hotel reservations, payments etc. to do...incredible! / Und nach dem Abendessen mussten wir an unserem Blog arbeiten, Hotel reservationen erledigen, Zahlungen mache etc...unglaublich!

A new phenomena discovered here in New Zealand: Converted busses as caravans! Quite cool! / Eine neues Phänomen das wir in Neuseeland entdeckt haben: Umgebaute Busse in ein Wohnmobil

Mount Manganui is beautifully situated at the sea. The walk to the top of the mountain is just about 40minutes (which is actually quite a bit in the hot lunch time sun) and totally rewarding once we made it up to the top!

What an amazing view on the village and the beach. We were slightly exhausted getting on the top and definitely sweated a lot....*eeeawww* Climbing back down we rewarded us with a nice brunch in one of the coffees right at the beach front.

Up there we want to go!! Can we conquer the top in our thongs? :) / Da hinauf wollen wir gehen!! Können wir da hochkletern in unseren Flip-Flops? :)

The sea to the left.....the mountain to the right / Das Meer auf der linken Seite....der Berg auf der rechten Seite

It was quite a climb up there and not always just stairs as here.... / Wir mussten ein ziemliches Stück hochklettern und nicht immer nur Treppen wie hier....

Blow-drying on the top of the mountain / Luft-trocknen auf der Spitze des Berges

The hike in the afternoon sun was definitely tiring / Das Wandern in der Nachmittagssonne war ermüdend

The view on Mount Manganui village / Die Aussicht auf Mount Manganui Stadt

Some friendly Kiwi helped us taking a picture of us / Ein freundlicher Kiwi hat uns geholfen ein Bild von uns zu machen

Mishell's first contact with New Zealand sheep / Mishell's erster Kontakt mit Neuseeländischen Schafen

After brunch...we couldn't resist but indulge ourselves with one of these gorgeous Muffins / Nach dem Bruch....konnten wir der Versuchung nicht widerstehen und haben einen Muffin gekauft

Chocoholic Pasci is having a need for his daily dose of chocolate (in whatever form) / Chocoholic Pasci braucht seine tägliche Dosis Shoggi (in welcher Form auch immer)

On the way from Mt. Manganui to Rotorua we came past this Kiwi plantation and curious as we are, we wanted to find out how these tasty fruits are growing. Have a look yourselves....

What was first in New Zealand??? The Kiwis (people) or the Kiwis (fruit)?? / Was war zuerst in Neuseeland?? Die Kiwis (Leute) oder die Kiwis (Frucht)??

And that's how Kiwis are growing.... / Und so wachsen die Kiwis....

Rotorua is known for its geothermal acitivies, features geysers and hot mud pools. Furthermore we expected to learn more about the Maori culture since there is the living Maori city - Whakarewarewa (or 'Faka' how the Maori shorten it).

Since it was Sunday we decided to spoil us with a nice Motel room that had its own Jacuzzi! WONDERFUL! :) After some soaking in the jacuzzi and a delicious dinner we watched Slumdog Millionaire on TV. What a great day!! :)

A big bed, Sky TV, Jacuzzi.... what else do you need? / Ein grosses Bett, Satelitten TV und Jacuzzi..was braucht man sonnst noch?

Our Jacuzzi....in which we were soaking until our skin got all crumpled / Unser Jacuzzi...worin wir uns solange aufgeweicht haben, bis unsere Haut schrumplig wurde

Ahhh....the hot-tub Jacuzzi was the perfect end to the weekend and a much-needed rest for the new week ahead! Next stop: Rotorua - the smelly town!