After Tauranga we decided to go up the Coromandel Peninsula before finishing off our NZ trip in Auckland. The Coromandel is known for its good weather and amazing beaches so we headed for Cathedral Cove, where we had been told there was stunning views of the coast. We drove up the east side of the peninsula, parked up and set off on the 40 minute walk to Cathedral Cove. The views along the way were stunning with bright blue seas, sandy beaches and huge white cliffs. We made our walked along the track stopping at a couple of bays along the way. We finally made it to Cathedral Cove and walked down several rows of wooden steps to reach the beach below. The beach looked just like Railey beach in Thailand, as it was a small, closed off section of sand with trees at the back and large cliffs at the side. The sand was pure white and the sea deep turquoise, the only real difference was that the cliff to the left had a large arching tunnel running straight through it and out onto a second beach. We found a ledge on one of the cliffs to sit on while we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view. After we had eaten we took some time to walk through to the second beach before heading back to the camper. We then drove 15 minutes back south and stopped at Hot Water Beach. This beach has thermal activity underneath the sand and so at low tide you can dig your own hot pool. We were a little sceptical at first but were surprised to find that it actually worked. We burrowed into the sand with our feet and allowed water to fill in the from underneath and in comparison to the sea it was extremely warm. The further out the tide got the hotter the water became and at one point we could actually see steam and the water boiling!

After enjoying a paddle in our self-built hot pools we returned to the camper and started to look for a place to camp. Camping is strictly forbidden on the Coromandel so we had our work cut out to find a place where we would be out of the way and not easily spotted. We found a place at the end of a narrow track which opened out to a view point over looking the sea. Very nice:-)

The next morning we got up early and drove off in our pajamas, just incase anyone should come by to fine us. We made it back down the peninsula and stopped briefly in a place called Miranda to get dressed and to have breakfast. We continued on to Auckland arriving there by lunchtime. After driving around the city in circles we eventually found a place to park and spent the afternoon walking around the main shopping streets. Parking up for the night was once again a problem and strictly forbidden everywhere unless paying in a proper campground. We drove around looking for a quiet spot, but in Auckland this didn't appear to exist. In some of the other towns we had been able to park for free on RSA (Returned Services Association) car parks. So when we spotted one of these we stopped to ask if we could stay. It was in here that I met a very drunk English woman who insisted that we stay on her land. Some how we ended up giving this woman a lift home and had to listen to her drunken ramblings as she tried her best to remember the way to her house! It turned out that her driveway was far too small for our camper and there was no way we could fit (She was no Andy Pope!). She was having none of it though and kept trying to explain the best way to position the camper in order for it to fit. In the end she had to run off to the loo, so we made a quick get away! :-) Luckily we came across another RSA and the lady here was happy for us to stay.

We spent our last day in Auckland going up to the top of mount Eden and then walking around the shops again. We stopped off in STA travel again as we wanted some info on booking a greyhound pass for America. The woman at STA looked into the hop on hop off greyhound for us and informed us that unbelievably the pass had been stopped 10 days prior! This meant we would have to buy single tickets for every leg of our journey.....just typical. We spent our last night in a motorhome park and got the camper ready for going back :-(

We drove the camper to the Mighty/Britz office of Auckland the next morning and reluctantly handed over the keys. It had been an amazing 6 weeks and we wanted to post our little camper home. We got a lift to the airport terminal and soon felt better when started to think about our next stop.....FIJI!!!