Thursday - What a great day! This morning we left Coramandel township and headed over the hills towards Whitianga, with beautiful views of both sides of the peninsular at once from the top.We arrived in Whitianga and had breakfast, then headed over to tourist information to find out about the area. We decided to go on a boat trip round cathedral cove, apparently where the film of Prince Caspian was filmed and a marine reserve.There was just the two of us and the skipper on the boat - so a private tour! It was beautiful and lasted for over two hours, we saw various marine life and a blue penguin. When we got back, we were pretty pink, even though we had sun cream, very fierce sun here.
We stopped the night at a DOC campsite (Department of Conservation) - very basic with compost toilets, but hot showers, this one was set right in the middle of a forest - lovely and quiet! We cooked snapper for tea, courtesy of some neighbours on the site in coromandel who had caught too many - scrummy!!

off to Rotorua tomorrow - best known for Maori culture and volcanic springs and mud! Eric is hoping to learn the Hakka, so will be available to give lessons as required! Ps thanks to those who have posted, it's nice to hear from you.