Days 2 & 3 in New Zealand

Hello again!
We didn't have internet access for the last two days, so we'll catch up now on our latest adventures!

Day 2 (Friday, April 8)
We had a lovely walk into town and enjoyed a nice breakfast of freshly baked treats from a local bakery. We got some lunch supplies at a little grocery store and had fun looking at all the different interesting items. We drove about 2 hours east over to the Coromandel Peninsula. We stopped at the cute little town of Thames to stretch our legs and explore the shops. We continued on up the peninsula and discovered some very curvy, windy roads. We did all right but were very happy to reach our destination for the night, Coromandel Town. There were some breathtaking views along the hairpin curves and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing God's beautiful creation.

We stayed at a hostel Friday night called The Lion's Den. It was a bit "eclectic" with some interesting guests and no locks on the doors. We got our first "takeaway (to go) meal of fish n chips at a local shop and it was quite tasty. We enjoyed Magnum ice cream bars in the evening and did some knitting in cute little alcove at the hostel. We find that we're going to bed rather early as the sun sets around 6:30pm and we are not nightlife type of gals. It works out great as we get up early and have a good start to our day.

Here are pics from Friday:

Julia on an old piece of wood near the beach

This one's for you Jeanette! 

(My friend's husband's book was for sale at a Christian bookshop in Thames)

Breath-taking view between Thames and Coromandel Town

Having fun together!

Friday night dinner: Fish n chips takeway (wrapped in real newspaper)

Caitlyn knitting in cute alcove at Lion's Den Hostel

Day 3 (Saturday, April 9th)

We started our day out with an accidental detour that took us further up the peninsula (instead of east to the other side as we had planned). The views were spectacular along the coast line but so were the hairpin curves and carsickness that accompanied them! We only went about 45 mins out of our way and got back on track quickly. The road over to Cathedral Cove was a bit curvy and windy as well but very beautiful. Caitlyn did all the driving on Saturday and did a great job! I took a Dramamine to help with the carsickness and it made me pretty drowsy. We made it to the Cathedral Cove area and had a nice picnic lunch on some grass. It was a very popular destination and the parking lot was packed. We had planned to walk down to Cathedral Cove (about 45 mins each way) but decided to cut it short so we could make it to our next stop at a reasonable hour. 

Here are pics from Saturday:

Caitlyn the fearless driver!

Julia overlooking Cathedral Cove

Caitlyn at Cathedral Cove

Gemstone Bay - we walked a few mins to this pretty spot

We will be exploring some geo thermal areas today (Sunday) near Rotorua then head over to the Waitomo Caves. We have a fun-filled adventure planned this afternoon that includes rock-climbing, rafting through gloworm caves and abseiling (repelling down caves). We'll be sure to post stories and pics when we can! 

P.S. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous! Bright, clear, sunny days probably in the low to mid 70's!