Train Rides and Hot Water Tides

Train Rides and Hot Water Tides
Coromandel, New Zealand

Coromandel, New Zealand

The Coromandel peninsular is the holiday hotspot of Aucklanders, with its lovely beaches, hot fishing spots it is a perfect place to spend a summers day, however on a blustery cold day its charms were a little lost on us. Driving around the peninsular is also an interesting experience, the roads are narrow, windy, the ocean is lapping against the road, the electric/phone cable pillars are actually in the sea and where in the UK this road would maybe have a 40mph speed limit all the road signs were advertising it at 100km, so if you were not driving at that speed you would have an agitated kiwi up your bum, beeping and tailgating you. The other enjoyable feature of this road was the huge logging trucks which were too big to fit in their lane coming at you at 100kmph. Relaxing this journey was not, but we did survive it without taking Blondini for an impromptu dip in the sea.

Our campsite for the night had sea views and would have been beautiful on a summers night, however we spent the night hiding in the tv room trying to keep warm and watch ‘Millionaire Hotseat’ over the loud and rude German tourists with screaming babies.

The next morning we set off on another recommended tour, not one that we would have probably taken without it being recommended but a fun day none the less.

The Driving Creek Railway, is the life work of the ever so slightly eccentric now 80 year old Barry Brickell. He is a potter by trade who bought the land in 1961 and decided to build a small railway to bring clay and firewood down from the slopes above the potteries. An absolute feat of engineering for a man with no training this completely handmade railway now runs up to 165 meters above sea level to the viewing platform called the ‘eyeful tower’ ha ha, across bridges, switchbacks and through tunnels! Funded entirely by visitors and with a long term goal to put money into the environment to protect the natural bushland and birdlife from outside predators like possums, this is a really enjoyable way of supporting a crazy crazy local with big dreams and huge skills.

Next we headed around the peninsular to one of the most major tourist attractions in the North Island, Hot Water Beach. The strange phenomenon that occurs here in just a narrow strip of beach at low tide is that if you dig a hole in the sand you will uncover a natural thermal water spring running down the beach into the sea. The problem with our visit to Hot water Beach was that the tide was not really on our side and digging holes needed to commence at either 7am or 7pm both times it is baltic in the wet and windy weather. We had booked to stay at the super convenient Top10 campsite, the Top10’s are usually pretty good, with great facilities, sadly this campsite was the stopping point for ever bus full of young immature travellers taking the Kiwi Experience around NZ, along with about 3 school parties and one bus full of oldies. Needless to say the campsite was not set up for this many people and rather than fighting for a spot in the kitchen we treated ourselves to fish and chips. We wondered down to the beach, having refused to pay $10 for a spade and just looked on as the madness unfolded and people dug and dug and dug and if they were lucky managed to get a hole big enough to stand in and if they were very lucky they could lie in it and have one inch of hot water surrounding their bodies as the wind chill turned any exposed part blue. Needless to say we did not feel the need to get involved and headed back to the camp to hang out with my new friend Maori Cat, possibly the biggest cat in NZ.

Onwards and downwards, next stop Rotorua.