Coromandel

The Geyser

Te Aroha

We drove from Turangi to Coromandel  stopping off at Te Aroha– a nice compact town with Edwardian soda baths and a geyser!  The Coromandel is a peninsula about 1.5 hrs drive from Auckland.  We were to stay in a studio apartment below the owner’s property. It overlooks the sea- quite a beautiful spot.  

Lots of wine to drink!

The week began to get strangely full of coincidences after that.  Jill and Harvey (their son in law plays guitar in “The Datsuns” for all you metal fans out there) the owners,  invited us for dinner with their friends Harry and Sue.  Their surname was “White” so two Sue Whites at the table!  Harry and Sue came to NZ about 35 years ago, he is a GP/ beef farmer and she is a teacher- yes you guessed it a special needs teacher!   It gets worse.  Her mother lives in Stoke St Milborough about 10 miles from where we live and used to live in Bridgnorth.  She did some teaching In Lye in Dudley and her husband worked at Dudley Road Hospital.  They kindly invited us to visit and look around their farm which we did- an awesome spot in the middle of the bush.  The world is a very small place, I’ve discovered.  How’s that for synchronicity???

A 9 metre circumference Kauri tree 1200 years old and over 40 metres tall.

Another strange occurrence when having some lunch in Auckland before the RWC final.  We saw Ozz Clarke get off the coach and go into Sky Centre with a party of people.  Steve said wouldn’t it be funny if a certain ex rugby star came along and low and behold 5 mins later I spotted him emerging from the building!!!!

Steve's new friend!

The final was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed at a sporting event.  Thousands and thousands of people in Auckland dressed in All Black colours and costumes- we were wearing our England shirts of course!!  The fan trail to walk to Eden Park was littered with entertainment, art events and bypassed the protesters against corporate greed who we stopped to chat with. 

The nation expects !

Protesters join in

Pre match nerves in Auckland

Fire dancing outside Eden Park

A lone french supporter

      The match was lost by the French who on the day were the better team.  We were shouting “Allez Les Bleus” as we felt we should support the northern hemisphere team and the French supporters were outnumbered heavily.  I sat next to a French fan and assured him my support was only for “Aujourdhui Seulement!”  When one of the All Black supporters behind started swearing with some vitriol about the French I put on my best Mumsie voice and told him if he couldn’t say it in French and give the guy next to me the right of reply he shouldn’t say it at all and that what he said wasn’t in the spirit of the game or the RWC!  He was OK after that.   Great event! 

Before the game!

We have since tried to have some quieter days, visiting beaches on the Coromandel and just soaking up the sunshine and sea air. It is quietly beautiful and grows some very good mussels. 

We did a gorge walk at the Karangahati Gorge which involved a 1Km walk though a tunnel which was part of an old goldmine.  The engineering skills involved in building in this difficult terrain at the start of the 20^th Century amazed us. 

Hahei Beach

This whole trip around NZ has been the most amazing experience of my life so far.  This is a beautiful country with some of the friendliest people I have ever met anywhere in the world.  The RWC was a triumph for the whole nation.  NZ is idyllic but it also has its problems like all nations.  I was surprised to read in the national paper that it has the 5^th highest rate of child abuse in the western world, a child dying about every 5 weeks as a direct result of this and the second highest rate of teenage pregnancies behind the USA.  I guess all countries, however beautiful have problems.

Farewell and thanks New Zealand.  It has been remarkable journey; if I had visited here 30 years ago I know I would have stayed.  I will definitely want to come back.

Off home now via Sydney, Hong Kong and Wolverhampton Bus Station!!!