Part 6: Finale - The Gorgeous Cathedral Cove

From the Kauri Grove, it took us about about an hour before we reach our next destination, The Cathedral Cove. We reached about 11.50 a.m.

Cathedral Cove

Reached Hahei beach and parked our car there. Later on, we strolled from Hahei beach to Cathedral Cove. I thought it was just near by. But, guess what? We need to walk for another 1hr and 10mins to get there!! Gossshhh!! I was telling myself: "Since we came so far, must as well right?"

Hahei Beach

We followed the path to walk uphill towards the Cathedral Cove

After about 5 mins walk.. Walking uphill, looking down.

About 30 mins later.. Notice the white sands? That's Hahei Beach, where we started.

Before Cathedral Cove, we had the option to detour to Gemstone Bay, and we did! Rested here for a while and continued walking...

Then, we saw....

Yayyyy!! Getting closer.. hehe.. *Simply breathtaking*

Not long later, we reached our intended destination!! Alassss!!

Sooooooo nice!!!

The 1hr and 10 mins walk was really worth it!!

We chilled by the beach for an hour and then proceeded to Hot Water Beach...


Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach is about 8km away from the Cathedral Cove, I think. We went there because we heard that you can actually dig the sand and have your own spa in the hole. Unfortunately, that can only be done in low tide and the tide was high when we were there. The water current is really high and there are warnings everywhere stating that only strong swimmers are allowed in the sea.

Later on, we drove home at about 5 p.m. back to Auckland =) Was a really nice trip and certainly enjoyed the company and breathtaking scenes although it's only a two days one night trip. Still remember when Maria and I were like 'W-O-W-i-n-g' all the way once we reached Coromandel: from Thames till Coromandel Town till Mercury Bay. Coromandel is absolutely fantastic!!

Part 5: 309 Road

Castle Rock

We woke up about 7a.m. today and checked out at 8a.m. After having breakfast at a cafe, we continued our journey. We have decided to pay 309 Road a visit. The 309 road is a narrow winding gravel road between Whitianga and Coromandel. It stretches about 22km.

Our first stop was called the Castle Rock. Castle Rock is the core of an old volcano that rises above the bush on the backbone of the peninsula.

Meditating on the Magic Carpet?

Yeah, that's the activity we suggest you to do there.. haha

'Flying' on the magic carpet

Maria's car. It was going to rain...

Waiau Falls

Surely enough it rained. We waited for a while in the car before heading off to our next destination - Waiau Falls, which is only about 5 mins away. Once we reached the Waiau Falls, we had to bush walk for about 10 mins before reaching the waterfalls.


After 10 mins of

walk...







walk...








walk...







Whola!!

I like to see the water. It's so clear and love the tone of the colour so much!!

The water is real cold in here.

After playing for a while at the falls, we went to Kauri Grove, which is about 3 mins drive away from the falls..

Kauri Grove

To witness one of the largest tree in the grove, we need to walk another 10mins...




After 10 mins, this is what we saw:

Magnificent!! Kauri trees are not the tallest in the world being second only to the giant Sequoias of North America, it certainly contains the larger volume of timber. We continued our journey as the signs says that there are Siamese version of Kauri trees..

Tadddaaa!!

At first, these two trees grew up separately. As they grew bigger and bigger, their roots started to merge together. Hence, they are now known as the Siamese Kauri.

Part 4: Driving Creek Railway

An hour later, we arrived Coromandel Town. iSite was the first place we went to check out what activities we can do there. We saw the Driving Creek Railway - and guess what? It was fully booked! Usually, only 2 trains run a day. There were 5 trains running on that day - all fully booked. High season it seems. Maria and I was dissapointed. But as you can guess, we talked ever so L O U D L Y and the customer services girl in iSite suggested that we go on a waiting list and we agreed in unison.

As there was 1 hr+ left before the next train comes along, we checked into our hotel. It's called Coromandel Town Backpacker. When I told Dede that I booked a room which costs NZD38 for two people, he was a little worried - thinking I might end up in a really dodgy room. At first, I was alright, but later on, I became worried coz this backpacker does not have a website and I couldn't search images to get an idea how it looks like. =( But, when we got there, the room was much better than what I've imagined, although a little small.

Taddaa! Our room =) Not spooky at all..

After checking in, we headed straight to the Driving Creek Railway. Maria and I asked the counter girl whether there were any extra seats for us. We were there 30mins earlier, btw. And guess what? Somebody pulled out last minute and we are in! Woohoo!

Apparently, the railway track was built to transport potteries up to the hill in the good old days.. Now, it functions more as a tourist attraction rather than a functional train to transport potteries.

High pressure brick place

Two trains went up the railway track together. This is the other train. We were on the lower track..

On the way uphill, saw bottles being stacked by the side - prevent landslides?


This is what we saw when we reached the top of the Driving Creek:

Maria and I in the train

Maria Drivin'

The train was an hour's ride - go through tunnels, stop at the hill for a while, then go down hill - going through the forest, through tunnels again while the coach enlighten us about the history of the place. After that, we went to pose at the place for a while before heading to Waitaki Gardens..