Travel Journal:

New Zealand - Off to the Coromandel


Off to the Coromandel 2006-11-9
 
With all of the sleep I got the previous night I was wide awake at 5am. I had some stuff to take care of so I decided to just get going. I took a shower and started packing up my stuff. I went down to breakfast then paid $7 for an hour of internet (I know it's a total ripoff). However I wanted to post some photos, check email, and update my site.

I logged on but my popup blocker killed the logout page. I downloaded Picasa, hoping that it would help me organize all the photos I'm taking. Then I wanted to log off the network to save my minutes but I couldn't get to the page. Great! So instead I gabbed with my friends online.

I checked out at 9:30 and put my bags in the luggage room. Then I headed to the souvenir joints to get a couple of postcard. Postage for postcards is $1.50! I needed a pen so I went to an office supply store and picked out a nice one for $3.50. Then I headed down to starbucks and got a tea and a muffin ($6.60). I wrote out postcards to my family and my former coworker. Then I pulled out my guidebooks to try to figure out where I was going today.

I reserved a rental car for noon and was returning it on Monday. Otherwise I had no plans for those days. My friend Amanda had recommended Coromandel, which is a peninsula a couple hours from Auckland. I scouted out the route and likely towns. Then I went back to the hotel and called my mom to let her know I was still alive. It was 11:30 and the car rental place was a block away so I went over.

The car rental guy was impressed with my Amex Blue card. He also couldn't get the rates to match up with my orbitz quote but I changed it a bit so that even with an airport dropoff fee it was less than the original quote. I also got the excess insurance which added $24/day to my rate..eek. However since this was the first time I was ever going to be in a right hand drive  car I figured it was worth it. Yup, Kiwis drive on the wrong side of the road. My car was a brand new silver Mitsubishi Colt Plus. Oh yeah! My first car was a Dodgesubishi Colt named Phoebe. This one was a hatchback that looks sort of like a small Prius.

I got in (walked to the wrong side first) and drove around the block to pick up my bags from the hotel. I had to drive through town a bit and then got on highways. Driving on highways is easy because even though it's backwards it seems the same. What messed me up is that the signals were on the right and wipers on the left, so every time I wanted to turn I wiped instead. I was moving pretty good but I never exactly figured out my route so I pulled off at a service area. I went into the i-site (aka NZ tourist information) and picked up some more brochures. Then I got lunch at Long John Silvers and got back on the road.

Eventually I got on the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a beautiful drive along the rugged coast of the Cormondel peninsula. I was even quite comfortable with driving on the left along the edge of the coast with big dropoffs. However it was very windy and my little car was getting blown around. Secondly, the colt just doesn't handly windy roads well. I had to slow down a lot for all the curves. I missed my subie for that,  but my mom's Mazda Miata lives for roads like this. Eventually it wound back up into the mountains before coming back down. Eventually I got into Cormondel Town. I went to the I-site there and asked for a recommendation for an ensuite room. She suggested a hostel that had them for $70. She called and confirmed one was available and gve me directions.

I went out and it's a sort of whimsical place. It's sort of a compound with different buildings connected by hallways and most rooms actually opening directly outdoors with sliding doors. She pointed out where the kitchen was, but it's so mazelike that it took me 5 minutes to figure out where it was. On the way I had stopped at a grocery store for some snacks. So I made some tea and had crackers and cheese. Then I was ready to explore.

I got in my car and headed back to town but turned left and went out by the wharf which is actually just a dock. Then I turned around and drove the other way. I went back onto the main street because I needed to get more cash to pay for my room. Pretty much every store in town closed at 5pm so nothing but restaurants were open. I thought of coming back for dinner but decided to just stick with my snacks. It was a bit of a long day and I was hoping for an early start on friday.

 
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