Coromandel Peninsula

Happy Holidays! We've heard of the wintery weather everyone's getting and, although it doesn't feel like Xmas season here, we are not jealous at all.

The last week we spent exploring the Coromandel peninsula staying at several campsites along the way.

The first stop was Kauranga valley. We stayed in this area a few days and did a bunch of hiking. At the end of the 3 days we both had dozens of sand fly bites on our ankles that itched for days.

From there we drove north to Fantail Bay campsite and stayed the night where we saw an amazing sunset. I unsuccessfully fished for hours, but almost hooked a squid.

From there we drove all the way up to the top of Coromandel and stayed for several days at Fletcher's Bay. In the picture below you can see our van just to the left of the beach.

We needed to stop back in Auckland to swap out our fridge in the van and we decided to get a hotel room dowtown and explore Auckland. It was great to get a hot shower and sleep in a real bed. So the last stop in Auckland was the Manukau library to post on this blog.

More Pics

Hey all, we are in Katai just south of 90 mile beach.
Yesterday we drove up to Cape Reinga the northernmost point in NZ that we could drive to....not much of a road up there but we made it.
The last few days have been quite windy and rainy. We are heading south in search of sun.
I've uploaded more pics to http://picasaweb.google.com/stearnr/NZ1

Been Awhile

Hello all.
We made it to NZ with no problems. Rented a car and drove around to find a campervan.
We met some people and ended up staying at their house for a week and also bought a van from them. It's a 1989 Toyota Hiace 2.4l diesel and she run's like a dream.


They took us out to a friends farm and we went offroading on some pretty beautiful terrain.


We left their house a few days ago and have been staying a different campsites on the way to the top of the north island.

Last day on Rarotonga

First of all, Go Bucks!
Turns out theres a B-dubs here on the island and they opened at 6am with half priced tall boys just for the game...not really, actually I haven’t even seen a tv since we’ve been here.

We have been spending our days relaxing at our bungalow and exploring on our scooter. I’ve done more reading in the last 5 days than I have in the last 5 years. The scooter is definitely the most popular mode of transportation here on Rarotonga. I had to pay $16 and complete a practical exam consisting of driving the scooter around the block with a cop behind me to get my license.

We attempted the cross island hike, but after several hours of battle, the jungle spit us back out. We were not worthy. It was so dense and it started raining once we were in the thick of it. We were constantly going under, over, or through something. The trail was very hard to follow and we lost it high on a muddy ridge in the midst of complete downpour…so tail between our legs, we turned back. Oh well, we made it half way and no serious injuries.

The outrigger race is a big deal here. Teams from all over (Hawaii, Australia, NZ, Tahiti…) are here to compete in this weeklong event. We happened to be in town when they kicked things off with the blessing of the boats. We stuck around and had some beers with the crowd pretending we belonged.

The snorkeling here is amazing. Most of the island is enclosed by a reef making a lagoon with crystal clear water and tons of coral and marine life. We have hit several spots around the island and have found the best is right outside our door.

The people here are very friendly if the effort is made. The two big weekly events for them are the town market on Saturday and church on Sunday. We went to both and it was well worth it. The church service was mostly in Maori so we didn’t understand much but the singing was awesome. Afterward everyone walked next door for ‘tea’ which turned out to be a full spread of local foods brought by members of the church. I’m not one to turn down a free meal so we sat and ate and talked with some locals for awhile.

We leave early on Tuesday for Auckland. No real plans at this point. Just wingin’ it. Next report will be from NZ.

Rarotonga

We made it! After a grueling 12 hour layover and then a 10 hour flight, we are finally in Rarotonga. It is beautiful. Our bungalow is right on the beach complete with chickens, lizards, a cat, and an awesome dog that accompanies us on our morning beach walk. There is a large reef right in front of us to snorkel in and we have a kayak to use, but haven’t made it out on it yet. We rented a scooter on the first day and have to tell ourselves every time we get on to drive on the left. Tomorrow, we are doing a cross island hike through the forest. Other than that, there are some paddling races going on this weekend, a farm market on Saturday, and lots of snorkeling sites on the agenda.

On our way

Well, we're off! The first picture is of the mess we made packing and the second is all of that stuff in our bags while we wait for the train in LA. Suprisingly everything is running smoothly so far. We have a 12 hour layover in LAX, so we thought we'd get the blog going.
We already have met a couple at the airport that have offered a spare room to us whenever we get to Christchurch. Awesome.
We arrive in Rarotonga tomorrow A.M. We'll try to post again later in the week.