The Coromandel

We spent our last week in New Zealand on the Coromandel Peninsula.

We stayed in Whitianga. On our first day in town, our hosts Wayne and Anne took us sailing.

Ahoy matey!

We sailed by many of the beautiful beaches in the area.

This is Cathedral Cove

Later in the week, we also hiked to Cathedral Cove.

And enjoyed the view from the beach.

Some enjoyed the view from the air.

We just played it safe on the sand.

But still managed to get an aerial view later on our hike back to the car.

When we got home, like most nights, we threw another Gurnard on the barbie.

Here are some other places we visited. 

Shakespeare's Head

Kuaotunu

We even found time to catch the big game.

Congratulations Seahawks 

This is Buffalo Beach. It was right next to our apartment.

Kuaotunu

Goodbye New Zealand. We'll miss you dearly.

Whakatane & Mount Maunganui

We had a brilliant plan to camp on the beach in beautiful Whakatane

But it was a bit cold and windy

So after a chilly night in the tent, we drove north and discovered Mount Maunganui.

It was nice and warm so we spent the day relaxing on the beach.

Before we left town we hiked around the mountain.

The trail looked like this

The views like this

And this

Rotorua

Speaking of geothermic areas, Rotorua has plenty.

We spent our first afternoon a little outside of town at Waikite Hot Pools.

Very nice

We visited some more geothermic areas in Rotorua.

Along with a Maouri village.

A Maouri meeting house.

We also visited Blue Lake...

...and Green Lake

Not to mention Lake Tarawera

Outstanding!

Lake Taupo

After leaving Wellington we headed to Lake Taupo

On the way we drove by Mt. Ruapehu, one of the active volcanos in the area.

We went kayaking up the Waikato River. The kayak company didn't allowed us to bring cameras. Our guide took some pics of us floating down the river but never emailed them to us. So here are some images borrowed from the internet of what we did.

We witness this but from the reverse angle. 

Our guide told us about a great local swim spot on the lake so after kayaking on the Waitato, we took a dip.

Later we drove up to Huka Falls.

These crazy dudes thought it was a good idea to kayak over the falls. 

Our kayak trip was not this hardcore.

On our way out of town we stop by Craters of the Moon, a  nearby geothermic area.

There were bubbling mud pools and steam vents.