Coromandel Peninsula

Saturday, after leaving the Hamilton Gardens, we drove towards the Coromandel Peninsula. Arriving at the city of Thames, we stopped for a few food items and then drove on up the scenic coast to the tiny town of Coromandel.               

After some indecision, we found a motel for the night. We consulted the host and strolled down the road to the one upscale restaurant in the town of 1500 people. With no reservations, we had to sit on the weatherized back porch, but we had a fabulous shared dinner of mussels then rack of lamb with roasted vegies and finished with a scoop of feijoa ice cream (we actually liked Mark’s better).

Sunday morning we attended Saint Andrew’s Union Church. The “Union” seems to refer to the melding of Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians all into one service. We sang hymns including ones by Charles Wesley and John Newton to boom box accompaniment. The tiny wooden sanctuary was quite cold but the barefoot priest/minister gave a short homily and led us in liturgies and prayers. Sadly, of the fifteen or so in attendance, half of us, according to the minister, were visitors. The Elim Church down the road had lots more cars but advertised a two hour service. We just didn’t have it in us though it might have been much livelier and certainly interesting….a shade Pentecostal, I’m thinking.

After poking around downtown Coromandel and grabbing a cup of coffee, we found the infamous 309 Road which is the shortest route between the peninsula’s west and east coasts--from Coromandel to Whitianga. The road is winding, narrow, and mostly unpaved. At my pleading, we took it slow and easy. We also stopped and walked along the way--around a little waterfall and into an area of some giant Kauri trees.

 

Can you see San?

Popping out on the east coast, we stopped for a late, windy, picnic lunch on the ocean attended by pesky seagulls. A short drive further brought us to Whangamata (fong-a-ma-TA) and with the help of the GPS we found our new digs for the next two weeks.