Northern rain

The Maori name for New Zealand means "Land of the long white cloud" and we're starting to understand why. During the flight from Queenstown to Auckland we couldn't see the land beneath us at all, only a blanket of white rain clouds. We liked the South Island and weren't expecting much from the North, but the beginnings were even worse than we feared.

In Auckland we were welcomed by a constant rain and strong winds. After collecting the rental car, a crappy old rusty Hyundai Getz, we went to a supermarket to buy some sandwich for lunch. Hungry and slightly depressed, we had lunch in the parking lot, right in the car, under the heavy rain. When we were ready to leave, things got even worse: the car battery was dead. Running around under the pouring rain we eventually found a public phone to call the rental company and have them change the dead battery. Back on the road again... we got stuck in a traffic jam for about forty minutes. Great!

150000 km. Good as new, right?!

Not the nicest place for lunch

A couple of hours nearby Auckland and we had enough of the big city. As soon as the traffic allowed us, we left the area and drove towards the Coromandel Peninsula. Various people that we met in the South recommended this region, so we decided to begin the Northern tour from there. In spite of the rain and the clouds we found some joy in the form of a cute hostel in the tiny settlement of Te Puru. With only three rooms and a large dining area, it felt more like an apartment, that we shared with a nice French couple.

According to the weather forecast the next day would be the only sunny day in the middle of a long spell of bad weather. Not wanting to miss any of it, we got up early and spent a few hours driving around the Coromandel Peninsula. Apart from a short shower that caught us right in the middle of a Kauri forest walk, the day turned out to be quite beautiful and we had a chance to visit some of the most iconic places of the entire North Island, like Coromandel town, the Cathedral Cave and the Hot Water Beach.

View of the Coromandel Peninsula

Nice piggies along the road

Giant siamese twin kauri, one of the world's tallest type of tree

Much better place for lunch break

Cathedral Cove

The Hot Water Beach is especially interesting. Hot thermal waters lie beneath the sandy shore's surface. When the tide is low enough, one can dig a small hole in the ground to tap into the thermal springs and have a thermal pool to enjoy. The place is obviously famous, and each day many people attend to it at the right time, armed with a shovel and a bathing suit. K was tired, and fell asleep in the car while waiting for the low tide. In the end I went alone to the beach, just to check it out, but unfortunately we didn't try the hot pool.

Pick a spot and dig your hot tub

The beach itself is nice

That night we shared the hostel with a group of Germans (and a Belgian). When we arrived they had just learnt that you can't freeze mussels, or rather that you can't eat them afterwards. We talked a little about life in southern Germany, and complained about the shitty weather that awaited us. It's depressing to look at an unexplored map knowing that wherever you'll go you'll find heavy rain. Where should we head next? We were tempted to simply stay in our nice hostel and forget about visiting the rest of the island. In the end we chose to move on instead, and try our luck in Rotorua, a famous thermal area. The landscape is nothing special there, but you can enjoy a hot pool even under a cloudy sky, right?