We woke up to a slightly cloudy day with the hope that the sun would start to shine as we headed up to the Coromandel, the place where the Kiwis holiday!

First of all on the attraction list was Hot Water Beach, which is a natural thermal area. You are supposed to dig a hole in the sand and get in while it fills with the water from under the surface of the sand and is really warm.Unfortunately we arrived at high tide so short of us getting in about 6ft of sea crashing against the rocks we weren't to experience this!We had a brief stroll along the beach anyway and then sped off in the van to Cathedral Cove.

As we parked up we spied another Jucy camper van from the company we have used so we swiftly set about swapping some DVD's so that we had something to watch that evening in the van.Oh good another horror - perhaps this time we would be more brave.

The walk down to Cathedral Cove was about 45 minutes but when we arrived down there the sun was shining and it was suddenly so warm it was great.We sat on the beach and recharged in the sun for about half an hour before realising we were hungry and had the 45 minute walk (uphill this time) back to the van.In the book it mentioned Cook's Beach, where Captain Cook landed in the Endeavour and named the beach Cook's Beach.This would be the lunch spot.Another lovely beach and a good sandwich and crackers - the same lunch we have had everyday for the passed 2 weeks but this time with a touch of hot sweet chilli sauce!Beautiful!

After lunch we found a short cut across to the west coast of the Coromandel along a 30km dirt track - good fun and a definite short cut but not so good for the vans state of repair - oh well, its not our van and we only need it to last until Monday morning.

This track took us to the West coast road, which was a beautiful coastal drive down to Thames - right by the coast.It reminded me of Highway 1 in California.

On our arrival in Thames we were in dyer need for some fuel so we filled up with another budget smashing $95 and I went in to pay.It is strange that when spending $95 on fuel you still manage to find some change in your pocket for a bargain.This time it was 5 Cadbury Cream Eggs for $2!Done deal!

As we drove around the bottom of the peninsular on to the Seabird Coast we were in search of a place to park up for the night.Whilst on the way we had a quick loo break and on the way there we saw the biggest turkey we have ever seen - it was running alongside the van in the road - very odd but very funny. As we arrived in a tiny town we saw on the horizon about 15 camper vans all parked up right on the coast line overlooking the Coromandel.Perfect.It was a brilliant spot to park up, very quiet, beautiful views and safe - so safe in fact we were brave enough to watch the horror film we had traded earlier that day.

A hearty supper of pasta, tuna and sweetcorn and we were set for the night.

In the morning we awoke to an amazing sunrise appearing over the water from the Coromandel to the East.

Today we hope for great weather as we continue to head north.

Sam