Kuaotuna, Coromandel Peninsula

Well, we arrived safely in Auckland at 510am after a long sleepless plane flight. We successfully met up with my Aussie friend Georgie who I have not seen for about 4 years. She will be travelling with us for 10 days. We headed off from the airport to hire our beaten down old white Nissan we named Dazzy. Georgie agreed to drive as she was not as jet lagged and was used to driving on the left side of the road. We quickly left the Auckland area and headed for the Coromandel Peninsula. The road was very windy and narrow. Good thing Georgie was driving. It was beautiful and the road was right next to the water.

We stopped for lunch and got some groceries in Coromandel Town before heading to our destination of Kuaotuna and Black Jack Lodge, a very small country town. We arrived early afternoon with warm greetings from Carl who showed around us the place. It is a beautiful spot with only 1 minute walk to the beach, a river running through the property, chickens with fresh eggs, a herb garden and a cleanly kitchen. We stayed in the Bakehouse (see pic above) with our own sitting area.

We were exhausted but managed a swim in the beach (see pic) and then cleaned up for a nice dinner in the next town over at the Fireplace. We ate yummy chili/garlic mussels and a pizza with cranberry sauce, avocado, cashews, brie and chicken. It was quite tasty. It was a quick trip and no problems going bed at 9pm.

Not a bad first day.