MONDAY, 9 MAY 2011 A LEISURELY DRIVE

Nothing specific was planned for today, so we took the coastal drive to Coromandel. The first half of the drive was along a narrow road that hugged the coast, then turned inland, up a winding road through the mountains to the small town of Coromandel and saw more spectacular scenery.

All of the places we drive in New Zealand is basically grazing land for sheep, cattle, and deer. Every grazing hill had terracing like this which is created from the repetitive paths the animals take.

The town of Coromandal was very quaint. 

We took a ride on the narrow gauge Driving Creek Railway up a mountainside for some more beautiful views.

                 It is a very narrow gauge!

The man who built is is a very eccentric artist who is basically a hermit and very ecologically minded. He obtained thousands of liquor bottles and used them to shore up the sides of the hill to prevent erosion.

The owner originally bought the land in order to obtain clay for his pottery. He has various pieces placed all along the route.

On the way back to Auckland, we took a short side trip to see Waiau waterfall.










Back in Auckland, we settled down at the airport Holiday Inn and got ready for our trip to Australia in the morning.

One thing about New Zealand...it truly is a beautiful country, everywhere you go.