North Island Journey - Day #3

17.02.2014 - Coromandel - Tauranga

Checked out of the lovely apartment in Coromandel at nine and drove down south towards Tauranga.
Did a small detour to check out the Waiau Falls and the Kauri Grove. The waterfall was just a 3min walk
from the gravel road and had a really nice pool. Would have loved to just jump in but I guess the elderly
couple following me would have been disturbed by the look of me skinny dipping in that waterfall pool.

I drove for another 15min on the gravel road, passing some, what I can only describe as the cliché
Redneck accommodation. There were rotten cars standing next to rotten but still occupied houses, pigs
crossing the street ... just missing some Redneck weirdos with a chainsaw chasing some blond
cheerleaders. ;) I did the short Kauri walk of 45min since I wanted to do some more stuff further down the
road to Tauranga. The Kauri trees were pretty impressive and it was a nice walk through the woods
accompanied, as always here up north, by thousands of cicadas trying there best to make you leave with
a Tinnitus. On the way up to Coromandel I already experienced them after realising that the constant
buzzing sounds I was hearing while driving over a gravel road, listening to Drum and Bass was actually
coming from Cicadas flanking the street. Incredibly loud!
Since the weather was a bit unstable and I was a bit late already I skipped the hot water beach and drove
straight to Tauranga. Not the worst choice since the weather here was fantastic with around 26 degrees
and blue skies. After checking into the motel, which was ok but not great, I drove to Mount Maunganui
which is located on the tip of a peninsula in Tauranga. Oddly you have to cross through some industrial
harbour area to get to some wonderful beaches and the mountain. It took me some more time than the
stated 45min that the roundtrip should take but I couldn't resist to just sit here and there for a while watching
the waves crashing onto the rocks and enjoying the breeze and the salty taste on my lips. The beach next to
the mountain really looks fantastic, not the kind of remote beauty like in Abel Tasman or Coromandel but
really nice for a city beach.