Day 13 - The Toast

26.11.16

Today is another day of travel. We want to reach the Coromandel Peninsula. After a shower, we have a leisurely breakfast with scrambled eggs. The journey goes along the west coast from Pahi, through Wellsford, Helensville, Auckland, Clevedon, and Thames to Waiomu. There we finally set up our camp for the night. Initially, we drive through many winding hills. It then becomes flatter and the road straighter before reaching Auckland. Auckland has a lot of traffic on its partially 4-lane highways (maybe due to it being Saturday). By the way, the constant driving also requires quite a bit of fuel. Since our vehicle consumes between 10-13L/100km, we have to refuel regularly. The average price for gasoline is 1.80 NZL dollars (1.00 $ = 0.74 CHF), with luck, you can also find it for 1.69 $. Now you can calculate for yourself ;-)

In Clevedon, we take a lunch break and eat delicious lamb curry or BLAT (Bagel-Bacon-Burger) at the restaurant 'The Corner - Kitchen & Bar'. It's a really great insider tip!

During the rest of the drive, we cross several hills again and arrive at Matingarahi, where we encounter the 'Firth of Thames' bay. The roads become flatter and straighter again, although straight and flat are relative terms when it comes to New Zealand roads :-)

The road leads us (sometimes very close to the sea) to Waiomu, where we camp at a free camping area. However, it is very windy and the sea is rough. We then try to make Toast Hawaii on a fixed grill. It is a bit tricky as there is only one heating setting. But on the second try, it works right away, so that the toast bread is not burnt, but the cheese is melted - haha.

The sunset is a bit cloudy.

However, when we go to brush our teeth, we once again see an incredible starry sky. We are still struggling to recognize the constellations. We gladly accept help :-)

Another 300km day ride comes to an end, and we start counting sheep. And believe us, there are MANY to count in New Zealand...