Day 16 • Whitianga (Coromandel Peninsula)

A relaxed day on the Coromandel Peninsula is over. Today we let ourselves drift a bit and started the day without much planning. According to Tripadvisor, the 'Driving Creek Railway,' a park and mountain railway, is one of the top activities here. So we set off and noticed that we were on Road 309. This is special because it is mostly advised not to drive this route. The road is quite a gravel road and in part very narrow. It was definitely not a pleasant drive. There are no real highlights on this route either. You could have taken a hike to the Kauri trees, but it was also advised against because cars in the parking lot are frequently broken into. So we didn't make a stop and continued towards the leisure train. We got close to a pretty run-down farm. It really looked like a dump. The pigs roam freely there. Which is even announced by signs 'Pigs crossing' and has now become an attraction. I got out of the car for a moment. The smell there was so strong that I quickly got back into the car. Eventually we arrived at the railway. The photo showed adults squeezed into a fairly small train and the cost per person for the fun was 35.00 NZD (about 21.00 €). The decision not to spend the money on it was taken off our hands by the already fully booked 11:30 am tour.

Now we have been on the roads of New Zealand for many days and we have noticed that there are a lot of dead animals on the roads. I had to solve the mystery today. Are there suicides among animals in New Zealand? ;-) No, it's due to a possum plague. They were introduced from Australia, destroy the forests, and also exterminate the kiwi more and more. That's why New Zealanders are not exactly gentle with these little animals. There is even a bar owner who is dedicated to the eradication of possums and you can get a free beer for one possum (dead or alive). There are currently over 70 million animals. So it was actually not an imagination ... :-) We then went to the town of Coromandel. A small town that lived from timber trading and also from the gold rush for a while. Some historical buildings still line the street in the town center today. Unfortunately, there wasn't much more to see there and after an ice coffee we continued to Otama Beach and Opito Bay Beach. Both beautiful beaches and also quite peaceful. After this short stop, we went to 'Shakespeare Cliff' and 'Lonely Beach'. We went swimming at Lonely Beach and enjoyed the sun a bit until the heavy rain clouds arrived. It was nice to have seen all these places. Tomorrow we will go to Paihia very early. We will take a tour with a catamaran at 1:30 pm. Usually you can see dolphins there. Let's hope they are not on the weekend and feel like posing for some photos.