We got up and showered in the questionable amenities block (at least the water was hot-ish). Neither of us were sad to leave Coromandel, though I think it would have been much better in summer... and at a different campsite!

We had a slow drive down the West coast of the Peninsular, stopping at a few picnic sites to take in the view. When we arrived at Thames, a large town, we were pleased to find a Pak n Save - our favourite cheap supermarket! So we went and stocked up on supplies then parked up on the main street for a look around. Dave had read about a famous pie shop there but when we found it, we found it was closed on Sundays :( However, we found a cafe over the road offering a deal of any pie plus a drink for $5, so we treated ourselves for lunch. We even pushed the boat out and spent another $1.50 each on a giant cookie for pudding! We browsed in a few shops, bought a chess set and a few postcards then went back to the van.

We were planning to head to a DOC campsite a little further south of Thames, but we looked through our leaflets and found another DOC campsite along the coast of the Bay of Plenty, which had hot showers - sold! As it was still early afternoon, we decided to head there instead, so set off again for Matata.

After a couple of hours drive, we arrived at the site and paid our $12 fee - bargain! We were right on the beach so went for a walk along, collecting shells along the way. We were amazed to see a Seal laid on the beach ahead of us, so we approached it carefully and took a few pictures. On the way back, I found a stick and wrote in the sand 'Laura & Dave heart NZ' because we do! It was still quite warm back at the site so we sat at the bench near the van, wrote postcards and read a magazine I'd found in the ladies toilets!

After our big lunch, we decided to have a small tea so got into the van and ate crackers and biscuits while completing a crossword in the magazine. Dave was starting a new Stephen King book so we decided to read it together - one chapter each, reading aloud. It's a bit gory for me but it's too late now!