We decided to spend some time on the beach at Waipu Cove, before setting off around the peninsula on the no 25 highway. The road around the area was beautiful, with the sea on one side and hills immediately on the other. This road is often closed as it is quite common for the sea to come up over it, but fortunately this was not the case today. The drive around the Coromandel was like a race track - very windy, with hairpin bends, which meant very slow driving ...

Once we were up we decided to head down to the beach and spend a couple of hours there before setting out again. This way it was not too hot to sunbathe and we weren't in the van all day - sensible, eh? The beach was beautiful, as they all are here, and quiet. The perfect spot to read a few chapters and splash around in the sea. For those of you out there who don't know - I love being in the sea and get too hot on the beach and so go in for a dip quite of...

Woke up early - again!! Drove into town and Nic booked to go on a big scary fast boat trip out into the Bay of Islands, which I opted not to do. Instead I spent my time doing the last lot of postcards for you lot!! We had time to kill prior to the boat trip and so after coffee in a cafe overlooking the harbour we decided to do a walk that was recommended in the guide book. It said it would take about an hour to get to the lookout and back - no problem. O...

Our alarm was set for 0610, as we had to drive back down to Kaitaia to meet up with the bus trip we had booked. We drove in our pyjamas and had a wash when we arrived at the information centre loos in Kaitaia. Perfect timing as the bus pulled in at 0900 and we headed out for the day. We decided to book a tour as on the west coast of the peninsula there is 90 Mile Beach which you can drive on, except for in hire vehicles as you are uninsured and likely to be sw...

The thing about camping is that you are up early - the sun heats the van up and the sound of other campers is easily discernible. So up early we were and showered and on our way by 1000. We decided to see if we could make it to the top, but weren't sure what the driving would be like as a lot of the roads over here are unsealed, gravel covered and very windy. We stopped by the side of the road for lunch, which comprised ham and salad (and the obligator...