Ooops, I forgot to mention. They drive on the left side of the road. I am a bit concerned leaving the city and do a couple of circles around the city before taking off onto the highway. It is strange having the right lane as the fast lane and exiting on the left. I continue to turn the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal, but it is easier than I thought.
We set our destination for Cathedral Cove
. It is actually the Coromandel Peninsula. To get there, we drive through windy cliff roads with pretty good drop offs. It is dark and I am still getting used to driving on the left side of the road. I scare Kristin pretty good when I drift to the outside of the road and cross the white line. Sometimes there are guard rails, but not always. I wish that I would have driven this route during the daytime as it is beautiful. The cars fly on this road. It is a holiday weekend here, the Queen's Bday, and locals are eager to get out of town. We arrive to a campground and just pull into a spot and hop into the back of the van. The manager is no longer awake. It is freezing cold out. Perhaps 25 degrees F. We are tired.
Our camper is setup with cubbies on the bottom. All of our clothes go in various cubbies. The back has a water pump sink and a propane burner with dishes. We have a cooler also, but it is pretty simple. The bedding is pretty surprisingly comfortable and we fall asleep in no time
.
We hike a short hike to Cathedral Cove the next day. It is beautiful. The trail winds down lush tress and bushes and looks out over cliffs and ocean. We arrive to Cathedral Cove on the beach and are amazed with the views. I wish we had a kayak, but a cold storm is expected and most boats and kayaks are heading in.
We continue on to a beach called Hot Beach. It is known for the hot water that bubbles up from the sand. Parents and Kids dig in the sand and create a circular hot tub out of sand. It is only done at low tide and our timing is a bit off as the tide is still too high for many of the best locations to be on dry land. It is getting very cold as winds begin and the storm appears to be getting closer. We get in our hippie van and head on south, unsure how far we will drive.
We venture out...on the wrong side of the road!!!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Cathedral Cove, New Zealand
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2025-02-08