Day 13-17: COROMANDEL

Hello Hello,

1st stop of our road trip is a beautiful deserted campsite without Wi-Fi in Opoutere. We walk along a huge beach and swim in the ocean current that flows into a lake. (It's almost like a whirlpool in a swimming pool!) On the way back along the lakeside, we are attacked by nesting birds and have to wade through the water.

The next day, we go to Purangi, but it's raining heavily all day, so we are forced to stay in the kitchen, where we pass the time playing cards and watching movies (although in such poor quality that we can't understand anything, not because of our lack of English skills...)

The boys have to sleep under a roof on a hard stone floor, luckily I already have a car ;)

Day 3 brings us a lot of action with digging holes, burning feet, and a mud fight at Hot Water Beach (these are underground hot springs that bubble up when you dig a hole and you can sit in 62° hot water). Afterwards, we walk to Cathedral Cove, a beach with a big cave and a waterfall where we find a dead penguin and bury it... :(

Next stop is Thames and we take a hike through dense thicket and past old gold mines where Philipp discovers a huge insect that only exists in New Zealand. (It looks similar to a giant grasshopper with spider legs 🤮)

Friday morning we go back to Tauranga because Mattis buys his car and I buy a guitar with it 🥳 (Let's see how far I'll go with it...)

See ya soon!

Josie