Road tripping

Today was the day! I woke up very excited about starting our road tripping adventure. We were to be picked up at 9.45am so we got ready and packed up and ate breakfast. Of course, we weren't ready on time but the car hire guy didn't have to wait too long. He took us in our car to the hire place so we could sign some documents, check out the car and pay. This was all sorted out rather quickly. I assigned Matt to drive first but the car we were given was an automatic. Neither of us have ever driven an automatic (it's like cheating) so we had to figure it all out first. The car is a Nisan Tiida so it's bigger than we originally wanted but a guy at the hire place told us we'd need more power for the hills around New Zealand. Also, there's a cover on the boot so our belongings will be more secure. 

Finally clued up we set off and I immediately directed Matt the wrong way. We'd been instructed which way to go so I wasn't reading a map yet and I'm not the best when it comes to knowing my left and my right. However, we corrected this mistake quickly and were on our way, ready for an adventure. The first leg of our journey was pretty dull and boring. It took us just over an hour to get from Auckland to a place called Thames. Matt was already fed up with the radio as it kept going fuzzy so we stopped at a DIY store to buy an audio cable for the car. With our music a little more clear we set off again for Coromandel town. The road took us right along by the sea beneath cliffs. The views were stunning and we were starting to see why people rave about New Zealand so much. 

On a map, Coromandel town didn't look very far from Thames but because the road wound along by the sea it took us another hour to get there. We'd booked a hostel so we checked in and set off again to have lunch a further five minutes along the road at a little bay. More tuna sandwiches and fruit and a few crisps for lunch and I also had a quick swing on a swing that was hanging from a tree on the bay. Now it was my turn to drive. We wanted to reach the top of the Coromandel peninsula as we'd read that the views were fantastic and it was well worth it. So with full bellies I drove us on for a while until we reached a gravel road. I was a bit concerned that we'd damage the car but Matt reminded me that the insurance covers all scratches and scrapes. However, I still didn't drive faster than about 30 miles an hour to be on the safe side. This meant that this 26 kilometre gravel road took me an hour to do, especially with all the tiny bends. It was incredible though. I've never driven on such an amazing road. It beats any of the windy roads we found in Thailand and it's a lot nicer because we're in a car rather than on a bike. Every corner took us to a new view of the sea and out over the cliffs. Towards the end of the road we were high up on the cliffs before curving our way down to Fletcher bay where the road ends. Fletcher bay was a bit of a let down compared to the fantastic views we'd been admiring on our way there. This meant we didn't stay too long and drove all the way back to where we'd come from. 

Back in Coromandel town we found a supermarket and bought our tea. It wasn't the cheapest of supermarkets so we settled for pasta with a tomato sauce, sausage, onion and mushrooms. We need to stop buying mushrooms. We go for the cheapest so they don't have much flavour. I miss chestnut mushrooms. My mother always advised me to get them and she was right. They're the best. However, it ended up being quite yummy and we made enough for our lunch tomorrow. 

There was nothing to do in the town as it was very small but the hostel we were staying in had a little TV area with sofas just next to the kitchen. There were a few Asian girls watching a film with John Cussack in that we later discovered was called 1408. It wasn't our kind of film but the novelty of watching telly pulled us in. The Asian girls were wise and had pillows and duvets to hide under as this was a horror film. I just hid behind my hands. When it had finished we got control of the TV but discovered the only thing that was on was the new version of Carrie. Neither of us like horror films (or are they thrillers?) but we managed to watch two in one night. I went to bed a little spooked.