Yesterday we said goodbye to the Bay of Islands and started our journey south down the northern coast of North Island to Thames on the Coromandel Coast. It was a long drive but on arrival in the late afternoon sunshine we find ourselves at a lovely spot named Grafton Cottages where the self contained units looked like tree houses & carved into a very steep hillside. (Photo above) As it was a drive away from any restaurants & we had spent quite enough time in the car we sent out for Pizzas & chilled in front of the TV.
Today dawned to an inferno of wind & rain! We are English so we just carried on regardless. We had decided that we would explore the east side of the Coromandel peninsula but as the weather was so foul we drove the long way around the coast which was very rocky and very lovely. The road was inches from the quite steep in parts shore line with no crash barriers, a good incentive not to speed! Even more scary when we went over a mountain range with an extremely winding road. The rain was torrential at times & the scenery was spectacular but the light was no good for photography. We arrive in Waitanga where it is still raining, but not as hard, also the sea was calm so we decide to take a boat trip along the coast to see the Beach etc. where they filmed some of the second Narnia film, the bit where the children arrive from the underground station, but 200 years after their last visit (if you have seen the film). We also saw the cliff top where they built the (polystyrene) ruined castle. Our skipper took us along the coast among wonderful lumpy islands that reminded me of the scenery in Avatar and finally into the third largest sea cave in the Southern Hemisphere. The water in the cave was the most beautiful dark almost luminous green & I wondered what the colour would have been like if it had been a sunny day. We really have been unlucky with the weather & this evening it is still blowing a full gale with squally rain bashing the windows but we are cosy enough in our cottage.