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Hahei Holiday Park, Hahei, North Island, New Zealand. 1071km

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Kiwi word of the day: Chook – Chicken. As in – After Ron fed the chooks, he got an egg from the henhouse.

We spent the last three days in Coromandel Pennisula, a beautiful area just a few hours southeast of Auckland. Aside from great ocean views and coast hugging drives, the kids got to experience a real farm!

Our week started with a Monday morning appointment at the RV rental depot. To our pleasant surprise, the RV was fixed very quickly, less than half an hour. My previous experience was a wasted day when we had RV trouble. Since we now had more time on our hand than originally expected, we decided to visit Devonport, Aucklands posh northerly neighborhood built upon two volcanoes. The views of the Auckland skyline from North Point were brilliant. We had lunch in the playground near the shore and couldn’t keep Orr, then Shir, seated for more than 5 minutes. They just had to run to the attractions.

The drive to Coromandel Pennisula took about 2 hours and in part we were stuck in Auckland traffic even though it was still early afternoon. When we reached Thames we turned into Coromandel Forest were we looked for a leg stretcher. We went on a very short hike called Nature Walk. It included a stop at a Hoffman’s swimming hole, with many rocks to throw into the water. Yippee. 3 teenagers were jumping from the cliffs into the water, but we opted to stay dry.

After stocking up on food in Thames we stayed in a nice campground called Dickson’s, a few km north of town in a quiet valley. In the morning we headed to Waiau Waterworks, a funky open air museum/playground owned and operated by a very creative and humorous couple. We pedaled a bike to squirt water from a hose into a pond. We saw a perpetual motion pendulum clock powered by water. There were several fun playground activities for the kids and us (very long and fun flying fox [omega]). We liked it do much that we even considered buying the place (not really), as signs at the entrance indicated it was on sale for those seeking a lifestyle residence / occupation.

We continued north past Coromandel town and great ocean vistas towards Colville. We reached Colville farm in the afternoon and checked in to this unusual campground. The owners have a huge farm and they set a side a small area for tourists. We were the only guests in an RV and from where we were parked we saw huge paddocks for the livestock.

The kids were excited about seeing all the animals.

We started off by visiting the orphan lambs right next to the RV. After Ron got tired of chasing them, we headed off to the stable to see the horses who had just arrived from a guided riding tour. We asked if the kids could go for a short ride and 3 minutes later I was leading Ziggy the horse with Ron in the saddle. Ron was a bit scared but after both Orr and Shir took their turn, he got his courage back and had another 2 rounds. To Ron’s credit I must admit that at first the other horses bunched up around us and made intimidating noises. Needless to say, all three enjoyed their ride very much and kept asking for another turn.

We got back from the horses and helped the farmer’s wife feed the chooks. In return we found an egg in the henhouse. We then fed and petted baby Daisy, a young calf who drank 5 liters of milk from a plastic bucket in less than a minute.

Today I woke Ron and the girls for morning chores. We revisited the orphan lambs and bottle fed them with some milk. We then helped to milk Daisy the cow, a new experience even for me. Hats off to all the farmers throughout history who had to do this twice a day, every day their entire lives. It’s not simple, as each squirt of milk from the cow’s udder has barely 20ml of milk. It’s hard work to fill up a bucket! We then tasted the milk, and… none of us liked it. I know it’s the freshest, tastiest, purest and healthiest, but being city folk, the kids and I have gotten used to the pasteurized flavor of supermarket milk. Ron fed the chooks again and got another egg that would later break in the fridge.

We headed to the eastern part of the peninsula and reached Hahei just in time for lunch. After some sandwiches and an espresso for me from the local Gazlan, we headed out on a hike to Cathedral Cove. One of the prettiest walks we have done in a long time, the hike took us through a forest of native trees down to a beautiful white sand shore with tiny islands and rock formations just off shore. There was even a large tunnel/arch that we walked through to see more of the beach. The trail was rather good except for two animal gates that required the stroller to be lifted over them. There were also several stairwells leading down to the beach that Orr walked down, and Shir opted for my shoulders. Ron walked the whole way without a peep of complaining. .

Once back on the trail, we hurried back to the RV in order to drive the 10km south towards Hot Water Beach. The beach, at low tide, enables visitors to dig their own Jacuzzi. There is some thermal activity on a small 100m stretch that lets almost boiling water mix with the old ocean water to create a warm bath. We got there a bit late though, and only spent a few minutes before the ocean waves started to obliterate all the manmade fortifications.
The campground here is right next to the ocean, but we are in a site that is closer to the playground, as usual. Tomorrow morning, if the sea conditions permit, I may go on a three hour kayaking tour.

Good night,

-Hemi

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 4:25 am and is filed under Big Trip, New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.