Coromandel Peninsula

With sim cards for our phones and a car, we were ready to take on the rest of New Zealand! From Auckland, Kyle and I headed to the Coromandel Peninsula. We had no idea what we were in for - incredible views, insane roads and remoteness :)

We drove to Thames where we finished off the vehicle ownership transfer and, incidentally, opened up a bank account.  Then we travelled north towards Port Jackson on the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.  The road from the town of Coromandel to Port Jackson was a narrow, gravel road that was right along the coast.  The drive was absolutely stunning. The photos below are just a sample of the drive. (As a side note, Snow White really pulled through for us.) 

We arrived at Port Jackson to find a DOC (Department of Conservation) campground which was perfect. The campground was right next to the beach so we set up our tent, enjoyed the views and walked along the beach. 

The only thing that we didn`t exactly anticipate was that Port Jackson consisted of, basically, a DOC campground and nothing else.  We had granola bars, apples, almonds, peanuts, coke, and a few Doritos along with 3 bottles of water.  (The water supply at the campground needed to be boiled before drinking.)  Oops!  Dinner of champions (which also turned out to be our breakfast and lunch of champions).  After a rousing game of Dutch Blitz inside our tent, we packed it in for the night.

The next day we decided to trail run a hike from Fletcher Bay to Stony Bay and back again.  It was estimated to be about 8K each way so 16K round trip.  This was absolultely gorgeous - see photos. And there was definitely some intense inclines and declines.  I was absolutely spent by the time we reached Stony Bay. (Kyle was in much better shape than me.)  We decided to take the mountain biking trail back, rather than the coastal walkwayto make it a loop rather than an out and back.  We both agreed that the coastal walkway was nicer.  We definitely hiked the entire way back rather than running!!  Eventually, we made it back to the car where we chugged back what fluid (coke) we had in the car.

After that, we headed back to the town of Coromandel where we spent the night at a Holiday Park which is where camping meets RVs and motel-like rooms.

Leaving Auckland in Snow White

Snow White has turned out to be a great car so far.  Like any Princess, she has her quirks.  Once we learned about them, things have gone much more smoothly. 

On Friday morning, we were packed and loaded in Snow White for a 7 am departure.  (For those of you who know Kyle - just that part was a feat!)  We stayed right in downtown Auckland so we were driving in a lot of traffic in our first outing.  Kyle took to the wheel as the driver and we started on our way.  Snow White was very low on gas so we knew we needed to find petrol (gas) asap before heading out on to the highway towards the Coromandel Peninsula.  Snow White was not overly smooth...chugging like crazy.  We even stalled mid-intersection!!  To his credit, Kyle was totally calm. Now would be the time to mention that Snow White has a choke. Yes, that`s right, a choke. Kyle made good use of the choke!! (Kyle says it reminded him of trying to keep that POS Honda 15HP motor from stalling while trolling into the wind in 2' waves on Indian Lake - quite the balancing act!)

Anyway, we continued on and found our way onto the highway, still chugging and jerky although better.  We took a nearby exit to get some petrol.  Once we filled her up ($2.20/L - ouch!), she seemed to be functioning a bit better. You'll have to read our next blog post to learn about the next adventure but Snow White has turned out to be a great purchase (knock on wood)!

Things we have learned about Snow White's Quirks:
1. She requires a warm-up period.
2. The warm-up period requires her to be fully choked for at least some of the time.
3. She is a good match for Kyle's Blue Car - sometimes she does not go into gear immediately :)
4. She beeps when backing up.  (This is quite possibly my favourite feature.)
5. She can handle gravel roads like nobody's business!!

Until next time,
Cathy and Kyle

Introducing: "Snow White" (and the 7 dents)

Well - after a bit of searching, we've found our princess.  Watch out New Zealand, we're about to terrorize your roads!!

1992 Mazda Familia w 180,000km. $2K NZD (probably a bit over-priced but we actually had to fight the competition for this one and didn't want to screw around for any longer looking for a vehicle!)  The previous owner is a mechanic so here's hoping she'll last!  He gave her some TLC before handing her over.

Kyle & Cath-izzle

Hello from New Zealand!!

Hey all - we arrived safe and sound early this morning (5:30AM NZ time).  The time difference between Calgary and here is easiest if you subtract 4 hours from your current time and add a day.  As I write this it is 11:30AM NZ time on Feb 21st which would be 3:30PM Calgary time on the 20th.  Just a quick time tip there in case people are trying to get a hold of us.  It's actually pretty convenient as it's just 4 hours different.

We are staying at the YMCA hostel in downtown Auckland and lucky for us we were able to check-in as soon as we arrived at the hostel this morning at about 7:45.  Getting through customs was easy but long as they had to do a "bio-scan" of our tent and an inspection on my hiking boots (Kyle) - I had heard they were pretty careful about what comes onto the island - it's true.  Fortunately both my boots and the tent were "quite clean" according to the inspectors.

After a bit of a snooze we are all cleaned up and ready to hit the town - it's a beautiful day out, maybe 25C??!  Booyah.

Ok - just wanted to let those watching know that we are here... will keep you all updated as we move around.  We'll be in Auckland for a few days as we find a car and get organized.

Later!

Kyle & Cath

Here we go!

The time has come...with both of us having a 12 month leave of absence from our current jobs, Kyle and I are taking off to see the world!  Stay tuned for our updates.