Cathedral Cove

Today we headed to Cathedral Cove on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula - one of my favourite places in NZ. The cove is not accessible by road and involves a half hour undulating walk across stunning scenery - this is a view on route.




As we had set off quite early so as to beat the incoming high tide, the beach was pretty quiet and we had plenty of it to ourselves.





It also meant we were able to walk through the cove.






This is another view on the walk back showing the stunning colours of the water.






On the way back we stopped off at Stingray Bay, we didn't see any, but the bay itself was deserted and beautiful.






This is a view around the bay with a mini cave. Again, the photo shows the amazing blueness of the water.






Finally, we stopped at the look out back at the carpark for a view down to Hahei beach, a popular holiday destination for Kiwis.

Driving Creek Railway

Today we headed off on our North Island trip with Charlotte and Dougal, first stop Coromandel Town and a trip on the Driving Creek Railway. We had done this with my parents last year so knew that this is a really good attraction.





We were very fortunate with the weather and had stunning views from the lookout at the top out over the Peninsula.






The railway is a feat of engineering, this tunnel being an example of that - just big enough for the train to fit through.






From here, we headed over the top of the Peninsula down into Whitianga and our accommodation for the night. This is the view from the apartment balcony over the marina.

Shakespear Regional Park

Charlotte & Dougal are now back with us after their trip to the South Island, and Royston and myself now on holiday for the rest of the year :o) Today we headed down the Whangaparaoa peninsula to Shakespear Regional Park. Despite the prediction of rain, we had a lovely warm and sunny day.



The morning was spent at Army Bay with Royston teaching Dougal the art of surfcasting. As we are currently experiencing King tides (very high), they didn't have to wade out too far to be up to their waists.




Dougal managed to pick up casting very quickly and was getting some decent distances on his casts. Here they are playing the waiting game...





And finally a fish! A very small kahawai... This one went back into the sea along with the other small snappers caught by Royston.






Once all the bait had gone, we headed to Te Haruhi beach the otherside of the park for a picnic lunch and a walk on the beach. The view of Auckland city in the distant background.

It's Christmas!!

Today we got festive and put up the Christmas trees and wrapped presents - still find it strange doing this and listening to Christmas songs whilst it is warm and sunny outside...








Amazingly, the Christmas tree is still upright, though Charlie has had great fun playing with the decorations...

Kylie Concert

Tonight we camped it up at the Kylie concert - an amazing show, spectacular dancing and all the hits. Her first time in New Zealand in her 21 years of performing.




The set had amazing computer graphics, pre recorded choreographed video and Jean Paul Gautier costumes, and Kylie got the crowd singing and dancing along. The final song was her first "I Should Be So Lucky" a throw back to the 80s!

Out to the Wild West

Today we went on a "tickey-tour" out to the west of Auckland to show Charlotte and Dougal the wild west coast. Our first stop was the Arataki visitors centre, or "a tacky vistors centre" that Charlotte thought we said... Here is the view from here down over the Manukau harbour.




From here we then headed to Piha, Auckland's most famous beach - here is the view down to South and North Piha beaches.






The sand on the west coast is volcanic black, a complete contrast to the east coast golden sandy beaches. This is the famous lion rock.






The next brief stop was at Rose Hellaby house to show them the view across Auckland.






We then continued up the coast to Muriwai for a picnic lunch then a paddle on the beach. Charlotte is dry in this picture before Dougal held her in the sea and got them drenched by a large wave!





Muriwai is home to one of the two gannet colonies in NZ, so we went up to the cliffs to show them the hundreds of birds. This one looks like it is coming in to land on Charlotte's head...





The rest of the afternoon was spent wine tasting at some of the local wineries, where we made a few purchases for later in the holiday.

Long Bay With Charlotte & Dougal

Charlotte & Dougal have come over from the UK for a 4 week holiday in NZ and spent a couple of days with us before heading down to the South Island for a while. To help ease them out of their jet lag, we spent the first day in the sunshine at our local beach.




Charlotte's request to have a bucket and spade were met, and she was inspired by the children of the local primary school who were sculpting in the sand. Charlotte's effort entitled "Man with Feet Buried in Sand"...








The pohutakawa trees (NZ Christmas tree) are now coming into full flower so the park was looking stunning.






No doubt we will head back here once they return from the South Island and will try and drag them in for a swim this time.