Kat and I were lucky enough to have been offered sofas at a friends house in Auckland and on arrival at the airport our new housemates, Russ and Mat, were there to pick us up. Bearing signs and everything!! It was so lovely to have some ready-made friends ready and waiting to help us settle in and show us the ropes.
It was bizarre being back in a big westernised city. Sky scrapers, motorways, traffic jams etc all seemed so alien. Lots of people had told us not to spend time in Auckland but, largely thanks to our fantastic hosts, we had a great time. As well as the obligatory sight seeing - One Tree Hill, Mt Eden, Sky Tower, Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Experience (Kat's obsession with Penguins raises it's head once again!), Devonport, Auckland Museum (which is MASSIVE! We only got round a couple of floors!) - the guys had arranged a BBQ for the Saturday and had got us tickets for a dance night in the huge Vector Arena. The BBQ was great - the sun was shining, the freshly caught snapper (caught by Mat on the Friday) was on the barbie, the drinks were flowing, everyone was so friendly and, only 2 days in, I felt at home in NZ.
Kat's sister, Rosie, was also in NZ staying in a small town called Thames in the Coromandel Region, only a couple of hours drive from Auckland. Once a thriving gold-digging town, Thames is scattered with cute little 19th-century wooden buildings and is now home to many Buddhists, hippies, and eco-warriers. I loved it! We stayed at 'Sudarshanaloka', a Buddhist retreat out in the mountains and surrounded by beautiful sub-tropical rainforest. It was too far to walk from the centre of Thames to the retreat but Rosie said we'd be able to get a lift with a friend of hers at 9pm after he had finished his Tai Chi class. This would not ordinarily have been a problem, but it was a Tuesday and, as our luck would have it, Thames is conveniently shut on a Tuesday! Completely shut. We arrived at about 4pm and wandered around the streets (all 2 of them) for as long as we could bare before finding a pub that was open. We enjoyed a couple of beers with locals (there were actually only 2 other people in the pub!) and managed to find somewhere to get dinner and slowly but surely 9pm was upon us. Thank god!!
There were only 6 people staying at the retreat, including Kat and I. We had only planned to spend one night there but became mesmerised by the calm and tranquility of the place and stayed in the Coromandel Region for the rest of the week. I woke early and did yoga overlooking the forest, went on bush walks (armed with machetes to cut our way through), ate nothing but healthy, organic vegetarian food, and, for the first time in a while, really felt at peace with myslef. Being around such open minded people and in such an open environment was refreshing.
Kat, Rosie and I hired a 4WD and, as the only driver, I enjoyed 2 days cruising around the Coromandel Peninsula. Until that point in time it was - hands down - the most beautiful place I have ever driven. Sweeping, rugged coastline, rolling hills, stunning views from the top of mountain roads... we really were driving through Middle Earth (only in a very pleasantly air-conditioned, turquoise 4WD rather than on a horse!).
We drove through many small towns, apparently stuck in the 1950's, and visited an absolutley stunning Buddhist retreat where we followed the 'Goddess Walking Track' to a monastry at the top of a hill. It had the most incredible views of the Peninsula, a labrynth pathway to one side and the biggest daisies I have ever seen! The car looked very pretty covered in daisy chains! We arrived at Cathedral Cove later in the day, perfectly timed to avoid all other tourists. The coastal walking track was practically deserted, taking us through rocky Gemstone Bay and sandy Stingray Bay before veering inland through sub-tropical rainforest and eventually coming out at the beautiful Cathedral Cove. We had a great time dancing around under the giant limestone arch and paddling in the sea as the sun began to go down, and set off to Hahai Beach - our camping spot for the night - in time to have a picnic and watch the sunset on the beach. Simply beautiful. After spending the day surrounded by such gorgeous, natural beauty I snuggled into my sleeping bag a very happy girl!
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