Drink Coffee / Straddle Large Mammal

In my last communication, I mentioned that the Swiss Family Robinson entry was the penultimate blog post.  I suspect that, given the time that has passed since that post, many of you have pulled out your dictionaries to see whether you really knew what "penultimate" meant and whether it was really just a synonym for ultimate.  You have been vindicated in your knowledge of the English language, as this ultimate post confirms the last one was the penultimate post.  Whew, got that?

We left the Coromandel and returned to Auckland Friday evening just in time for some Indian take away with Dave and the family.  I am embarrassed to say that I forgot to take pictures of the excellent chicken tika, but just as well, as that would start making me very hungry.

On Saturday, we went to a town called Matakana Village, which has an insane farmers market with just about every conceivable food item available.

There were mussels (of course):

Pies, smoothies, coffee, waffles, wine, free range eggs, nuts, crepes, banh bao (say what?), and oh so much more.

Debbie found a local bookstore:

And I found the most artistic bathrooms in New Zealand:

Having engorged ourselves, we headed out to the Morris & James Pottery & Tileworks company to check out the local pottery scene.

Debbie and Max were elected pottery queen and king and Olivia was into something fishy:

I bought a pot to pee in so I wouldn't fall victim to that common expression (apparently everyone else was too young to express concern enough to buy their own pots and I refuse to allow them to use mine), and we left for the vineyard / sculpture garden.  The sculpture garden was set  within the vineyard in a small valley with lots of ponds and an fantastic glass pavilion.

We drank wine and wandered around the sculpture trails.

I had another deeply moving religious experience at the sight of this and would have dropped to my knees in awe and wonderment if I hadn't been sitting in the passenger seat of Dave's car:

Spent, we went home for the day.

On Sunday, the whole gang headed for Auckland.  We had been through it a few times now but hadn't spent any time there.  It is a very cool place, big enough to be fun and small enough to be manageable.  More importantly, they just seem to "get" me and the fact that I drink coffee, look sharp, and like sheep:

There was a little something for everyone and we all found something of interest:

One of Andrew's friends even gave him a shout out:

I am told that Auckland has a needle, but it's like looking for one in a haystack and I couldn't find it anywhere.  I took lots of pictures of the city to see whether I could pick it out when I got home and had more time.

Sara applied to the University of Auckland as her stretch school but she hasn't heard back yet.  She had a nice campus visit.

Monday, we had an evening flight so Sara, Debbie and I headed back to Auckland for the day to explore some more.  In addition to walking around the city, we ended up taking the ferry to Devonport, a harbor-side suburb of Auckland on the North Shore just across from the city.

 It was a quaint town with some galleries, antique places, etc. although one building stood out as being particularly important:

We ate one last round of mussels at lunch and headed to the airport.

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As you can see, we had an absolutely amazing time in New Zealand.  We cannot thank David, Megan, Max, and Olivia enough for their incredible hospitality and for just being so much fun.  We also cannot thank Hank enough for the tickets that made it possible.

If you haven't had enough pictures by now, the last weekend described above can be seen in all its unedited glory here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/cariboulane/StraddleLargeMammal?authkey=Gv1sRgCKimxs2tyeOSvQE#

Swiss Family Robinson

That afternoon and the next few days were all about the Coromandel.  We left Rotorua and headed north.  We had picked out a hotel in a small town on the water as our base.  The hotel, the Mecure Grand Puka Park Resort, had a main building with check in, a restaurant, pool, and tennis court and "rooms" spread throughout the grounds.  The hotel grounds were set on a hill overlooking the town and the ocean.

The rooms were a series of "chalets" tucked into the forest for complete privacy.  No cars were allowed beyond the main building so we had to walk up the hill to our room, luggage in tow.  Our place was essentially in a tree:  it was like being the Swiss Family Robinson, but with satellite tv.  

With daylight fading, we decided to check out the beach and get our bearings.  Fortunately, the crowds had thinned and we were able to find a spot to watch the sun light the clouds (we were on the east side of the Coromandel, facing the Pacific so the sun set behind us over the land).

The first full day we mostly hung out at the beach, fighting off the crowds, reading books, swimming, and surfing (ok, watching surfers).

The next few days we explored the Coromandel, visiting small towns along the coast, enjoying the sun (on the beach, on a boat tour, etc.), and of course eating.  We loved Whitianga, which had a number of great restaurants and a beautiful little harbor.  Strangely enough, the "wh" in all the town names is pronounced as a "ph," which is in itself strange to be pronounced as an "f." All I can say is count your blessings you are native English speakers and don't have to learn it as a second language.

Cathedral cove:

Whitianga:

(Mom, this one's for you -- look at the name of the boat)

Just like the Swiss Family Robinson, Debbie stayed in touch with the outside world.  Instead of messages in bottles, she used Skype on her iPad sitting outside the free wifi from the library.  Talking with Andrew:

All that talking made us hungry and it had been at least a day since we had last had mussels, so . . .

Between the towns of Whitianga and Tairua (which was close to our hotel) an underground river of hot water flows into the Pacific under a small stretch of sandy beach.  During low tides -- and only during low tides  -- a portion of the beach is exposed that sits just above the river.  With a little digging, you can expose the hot water and create an incredible self-made hot tub.  The night we were there low tide was just around sunset.  We had bought a shovel in Whitianga and were all set.  We parked in the main beach parking lot and then headed around the bend.  The beach is generally empty, except for the spot just above the underground river (we had to ford a little stream to get there).

Once there it's every man, woman, and child for himself.  Actually, people share shovels and their water supply as if they were Utopian.  Depending on where you dig, the water can be scalding or barely warm, and people continually make adjustments by opening a breach in their walls to let someone else get hotter or colder water depending on the need.  It is an awesome experience (although with a La Brae tar pit kind of vibe).

After a few days, we headed back to Auckland, cutting straight across the Coromandel on an unpaved road.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hacking our way through the woods, we found what so vexed Ponce de Leon:  the fountain of youth.  (I am sure many of you have noticed that we have not aged one bit since our trip a few weeks ago.)

We also found a large tomato sitting in someone's yard.  Take that Ponce.

Additional pictures can be found at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/cariboulane/SwissFamilyRobinson?authkey=Gv1sRgCJL699boybC5qAE#

There are lots of pictures but they span a 3-day period.