Category: New Zealand and Australia

Off to The Shire!

We had a short drive this morning (Sunday) in the rain, over to Matamata. Since it was too early to check in, we drove a few back country roads through a large farming area. Lots of cattle and sheep. Lots of grazing lands for them year round so we didn’t see a lot of hay stacked. We did see quite a bit of corn. By then, the rain was stopped and it appeared to be clearing. We don’t expect sun today, but hopefully no rain for this afternoon’s tour.

We were able to check in to our first Airbnb early. We met our friendly host Kirsty. Although from New Zealand, she and her family have travelled quite a lot around the world. She talked about being in North America – both Canada and US, as well as through Europe. They have what we would consider a granny flat attached to their home which was beautifully set up for us.

Nice and bright living room opening out to a deck complete with gas barbecue.
Finally a full sized refrigerator with a freezer where we were able to finally freeze some water bottles as ice packs!

They live in the town of Matamata which had a uniquely designed visitor centre.

Designed to advertise the nearby tourist attraction!

After a visit with Kirsty and unloading the car, we headed out to arrive for our tour.

Next up, the journey continues.

Coromandel Peninsula

We awoke to sunshine but with a forecast of a cloudy day. We expected a slow drive along the coast but were hopeful of some beautiful scenery.

The west side of the peninsula is beautiful. We were driving right along the coast, most of the way to Coromandel.

Rugged shoreline
Some neat rock formations
Numerous places where we drove through a canopy of trees.

We also saw some amazing trees along the west coast. We saw some large, ancient pōhutukawa trees, which are a native New Zealand coastal tree, also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. This is because they bear vibrant red, bristly flowers around December. The trees are also culturally significant to the Māori who consider them to be “chiefly” trees. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, descended from East Polynesian settlers who arrived in large ocean canoes centuries ago.

Pōhutukawa tree

Despite driving the coast, at times the road veered inland and we started to climb, providing some beautiful views.

We also saw some more interesting landscapes – terracing on slopes. General perception is they are caused by animal grazing.

We stopped for lunch along the beach. Despite it being the weekend, there weren’t a lot of people at the beach. It was very windy!

What was supposed to be a cloudy day turned into a very nice day in Whitianga!
Hadn’t really thought of the risk until we saw this sign along the way. It just isn’t something we worry about in Ontario!

We’ve seen these tall white and blue flowers for days but I finally had a chance to get a close up of them. They’re beautiful!

These are Agapanthus plants, commonly known as the African lily or Lily of the Nile.

Driving the west side, we were inland much more of the trip. It was a full day but we really enjoyed the drive. We spent the night at Tauranga in another small motel, so we would have a short drive on Sunday to our next destination!