Coromandel

21st September 2008
Yeah! Another day trip to Auckland and surrounds. We decided to head to Coromandel. http://www.thecoromandel.com/ We have heard alot of good things about this peninsula, lush forest treks, white sandy beaches and of course, thermal/volcanic activity too. To get the most out of the day, we set off early, by 6 we were alredy prearing to leave house. We wanted to take the coastal route towards the town of Thames to watch sunrise as we travel. However, it was not meant to be. There was a landslide along the coast and we had to make a U-Turn back onto the motorway. What luck.

We reach Thames at 9am and as we had to rush to Coromandel Town to catch a train ride at 1015, we had no time to stop. We had actually intended to visit the Thames beach and mussel barges whilst having breakfast. Anyway, we set off for Coromandel. The estimated driving time is 1 hour, though the distance looks dreadfully near, the roads are extremely windy, sometimes single lane. Even the Great Ocean Road had 2 lanes at least. Anyway, I simply love driving on mountain passes. Its exciting. lol.

We arrived at Coromandel right on time, and headed straight for the Driving Creek Railway (a.k.a DCR) http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz/ Introduction.cfm Basically, a guy spend a fortune buying a 22 hectare of land and set up a pottery there. He spent 27 years to build a railway to the top of the mountain to gather his clay. After he retired, he thought it might make a good tourist spot, so he charge us $20 and take us to the top of the mountain for a nice view of the mountain ranges. The ride was not too bad, we zigzagged up the slopes to a beautiful watchtower. They even hold weddings and functions there.

Next up was the New Chums Beach. They mentioned that it was ironically named as one of the world's finest beachs. What the hell.. http://www.thecoromandel.com/newchums Anyway, it's in a small quiet town, with a row of nice beach houses whose doors open right onto the beach, literally. Well, the beach is pretty white, water pretty clear, but one of the world's finest? I hardly think so. Well, it is beautiful, but I think Malaysia may have nicer ones. We walked the quiet beach, took some photos, did some jumping and hopping and off we went to the highlight of Coromandel, the Cathedral Cove which was used in the movie - The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian at 0.40 in the embedded video below.


What the hell man, 2 hours return walk from the carpark. damn bloody far. But when you arrive there, you will be greatly rewarded. To be able to stand under the massive arch is amazing. In maybe a few decades, the arch will collapse and it will be gone. We spend alot of time there taking photos, chasing seagulls... lol. It was fun, except for the freezing weather. Final event of the day! The Hot Water Beach! An underground river of hot water runs under the beach and it's really hot. Freezing cold winds and hot sand - its a great combination. We dig a hole on the beach and the water that fills the hole is hot, and I mean very hot. It burns. Lying in the natural hot spa, looking a the sky, with the sound of waves splashing and icy winds blowing on your face; it's an unforgettable experience. I don't think you can find that anywhere else in the world. http://www.thecoromandel.com/hotwaterbeach

A great experience indeed, I caught a cold and fell sick the following day. What the hell man.

Snow Mountains Trips

03 Sepember 2008
Time: 8.30 a.m.
Itinerary: Auckland -> Rotorua -> Whakapapa -> Ohakune

As the winter is quickly coming to an end, we had to get to the snow! After doing some research online, we set our trip on the 2nd - 4th September. And the weather forecasts were looking pretty good! We needed some transport, so we rented a little yellow car from Exploremore. Damn good rates. $27/day including insurance. We intended to drive down to the mountain, Mount Rapehu and reach there early in the morning to start our skiing. http://www.mtruapehu.com/winter/the-ski-areas/ Its the only commercial ski field in the North Island. There're plenty of ski fields in the South, so we had to head to this one.

Day 01

We started our journey from Auckland and drove down through Rotorua (Stayed overnight), Lake Taupo and to the ski fields. In the beginning of our drive, we were in awe of the surroundings, the green landscape dotted with small lil sheeps. Soon, we realised everywhere is like that. Hahaha. So breathtakingly beautiful. The drive from Auckland to Rotorua wasn't too long.. 2 hrs plus. http://www.rotoruanz.com/ Rotorua is a thermal valley, full of thermal reserves. Once you arrived at this place, you will feel like you're a in different world. Hot steam coming out of the drains, the smell of sulphur everywhere. It takes some getting used to, the smell. The town is shit small, as with most NZ towns. But there are alot of activities, if you have the money. Rafting, Zorbing, bungee, skydiving, mudbaths etc..

Most of the popular thermal reserves are privately owned, because then they probably can take care of the place and prevent people from damaging it. We chose a popular reserve with the most powerful Geyser, Te Puia. Bloody entrance fee is $45 bucks per person. That rocked me hard man. http://www.tepuia.com/ Quite nice lah actually, it includes a Maori performance with the famous 'Haka' and some singing and dancing. After the costly thermal reserve, we went to a free on near the city centre. A place where we had lunch and soaked our legs in the naturally heated pool. Alot of the motels and hostels are actually naturally heated - the floor of the room is hot and steamy.

At Rotorua, we stayed in the best backpacker hostel ever. The Treks Backpacker. http://www.treks.co.nz/ We had actually intended to stay at another hostel, but we drove past this one and it caught our attention. The design is clean and it is very comfortable. The whole place is spotless and all the cutlery and utensils are new. We are so in love with the kitchen. We will definitely stay there again.

Day 02

We woke up early and head to the snow. We drove past the famous Lake Taupo, the lake which is the size of Singapore. We took some photographs at the scenic lookout and its amazingly beautiful. Mount Rapehu actually has 2 ski fields on either side of the mountain; Whakapapa and Turoa. We decide to go to Whakapapa today and Turoa the next day. The drive up the mountain wasn't very long, and definitely is unforgettable. As I drive, the brown sand...and the trees by the road started turning white. From bits of white, to an entire road, to a mountain. Everything is white. We stopped at a carpark and every car around us started gearing up. We were the only ones renting the equipment. Hahha.

It's definitely not a cheap sport; it costs us $130 each for the lift pass, a lesson, all gear. We bought the wrong lesson, we got the advanced lesson but we have not even snowboard before! When we reach the top of the ski lifts, we told the instructor and they got an instructor to teach us, private lesson. Wah... so lucky. Private lessons usually have to pay $30 more. I have tried skiing before and to put it simply, nothing beats snowboarding! Think you have played something extremely fun in your life? Multiply that by 10 you get probably get snowboarding! I'm totally addicted to it. Next time get our own gear and season lift pass. LOL. By the time we finish our lesson, its already close to 1pm. We stayed at the beginners slope for fear that we slide down the cliff. We decide to go down the slope at 3+pm because the lifts closes at 4. We literally rolled down. At every turn, we fell because beginners don't really learn that much of turning left and right. We fell and slided, fell again and slide again, all the way down to the bottom. We were tired but happy, it was the greatest fun we had.

We thought it might be freezing cold at the mountains, but at 2 degrees, and snowboarding, we were sweating tremendously in our jackets! I was all wet when I got into the car. We reluctantly left the snow field and headed down the mountain. As we wanted to try Turoa tomorrow, we have to tavel to Ohakune to find a place to sleep, which is much nearer to the Turoa ski field. Ohakune is the land of the carrots. and probably potatoes. Haha. They produce alot of carrots and they have a huge statue of a carrot near their City Centre.

Day 03

We woke up damn early today, want to get the most of our day. By the time the ski lifts open, we're there already. Today, we're not going to stop. We're just gonna board, board and board.. take lifts up, board down, take lifts again..come down. Yeah! Turoa is a much better ski field! Lesser kids, lesser people and better slopes for us! We experimented at the beginner's area before we decided to take the plunge. We never looked back. Sliding, cutting the snow, falling, flying, we did everything. The boards were heavy but non of that mattered. It was the greatest fun we had in a long long time. We played a full day, got our money's worth and went back with sore knees, ass, hands..everywhere. But with a smile on our faces. Snowboarding rules!