Calm. Blue. Ocean.

Okay so I'm some what calmer than I have been in my two prior posts. I departed the glorious geothermal delights on Saturday and caught the bus up to Coromandel Town on the Coromandel Peninsular.

The drive up the peninsular was spectactular. There are sections where on one side of the bus was sheer mountain, on the other ocean. No rambling plains down to the sea, a tiny strip of beach (if at all). Mountain. Water. It's great :)

Coromandel Town is quiet during the winter (ie now) but during the summer the population quadruples with the summer season. Being a coastal town there is alot of fishing and most eateries have quiet an extensive range of sea life, the butcher advertises mussel sauages. The town also has a strong artistic community and there are lots of galleries and stores selling pottery and the like. One guy even built a light rail line to get clay from the top of his property to the kiln. He started in the 1960's and today it's a half hour ride to the top and they take tourists up at least twice a day. Really lovely views of the region. Also some nice bushwalks around.

Been watching the weather when I cook dinner every night. Yesterday afternoon it started snowing in Christchurch (which apparently only happens every decade or so) and the airport was closed. The forcast for snow is something I'm finding very novel.

Tommorrow heading back to Auckland before Hong Kong on Thursday morning (yay heat!)