The drive up to the Coromandal Peninsular was much the same at the drive up to Cape Reinga except there was less rain, steeper cliffs and windier roads. This time I was being even more careful as the hire company had strictly forbidden me to drive this 50km section of road!I'm glad I did, it was an exhausting third gear max drive but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. And I felt as if I deserved the local Mussels which I had for dinner, and lunch, and I may have snacked on a pot after the first walk too, well they were good!

The road was getting pretty sketchy in places, so when we came across a National Trust camp site, we opted to stay for the night, the facilities were a little basic with cold showers and a long drop but it ticked all the boxes.Niall was not easily convinced to stump up for the site fee which was an honesty box, so I donated his change too as penance!

We stopped before in the last town before we reached the Cape Colville and did a short trek, the signed said it would be an hour one way, we did it in forty minutes return!So we were hoping the six hour trek from Cape Colville to Port Charles wouldnot just be a couple of hours after the mammoth drive.We weren't disappointed we did it in five, including a million photo stops and two lunch breaks.

I don't really know enough descriptive words to describe the scenery and do it justice, so all I'll say is wow!

After five hours of walking I was in need of a shower, if I was going to brave the cold showers, I was going to go all out and have a dip in the sea first, much to the bewilderment of a local fisherman and his son on the beach.After a few descriptive of a different kind I had a quick cold shower before drying off and having a well deserved cup of tea & fruit digestives.

We wanted to get down to the next town nice and early the next day as there was lots of things to do, we decided to tackle the long winding gravel track back to civilization before dinner.

We camped just outside Coromandel Town in a lay by next to a field full of cows.The mornings in the camper are cold and there are arguments about who is going to get out of bed and put the kettle on!The Coromandels were even colder as we always seemed to be in a valley and therefore we didn't get any sun until at least teno'clock.I'm glad I bought those thermals now!