Coromandel

This weekend we headed out to the scenic Coromandel Peninsula. Just a couple hours drive from Auckland, this is one of the favorite Kiwi spots for summer holiday. I can see why this is a popular vacation destination- it has all the right qualities: beautiful beaches, great hikes, and just enough commercial civilization to get by. On our drive back to Auckland, Dana and I concluded that this was the most beautiful spot in New Zealand we’ve visited so far (note that there is still much to see). Some of the highlights of our adventures in Coromandel:

Wairua Lodge – This was our home for two nights. It was 12 km outside of town within the central wilderness of the Coromandel. The driveway was 0.9 KM long, and outside of the lodge, there wasn’t anything but forest in the area. It was a former artist escape that the current owners turned into a bed and breakfast. The owners have a great nack for decorating as it had a rustic yet comfortable feel. If you ever find yourself traveling to the Coromandel, you have to stay at Wairua. One of the most affordable, relaxing, and unique places we’ve stayed.

Hot Water Beach – Popular novelty of the area that feels overcrowded, but it's nonetheless a natural wonder. For an 1.5 hour window either side of low tide, you can scope out a spot on the beach and dig yourself a spa. There are hot water thermal springs that run underneath the beach and digging down only a foot or two will get you access to the hot water. However you’ll want to be careful where you position yourself because in some locations it is scalding hot, and in others it’s barely warm. We got there right about low tide and took up a vacated spot with the perfect temperature.

Cathedral Cove – A short hike leads you to this cove with clear (but very cold) water and interesting rock formations. Peaceful destination to relax with a book. Surprisingly wasn’t all that crowded while we were visiting. 

Castle Rock – After driving on dirt roads that were probably better suited to 4 wheel drive vehicles than our sedan, we found the trail for Castle Rock. This might be the highest point in the Coromandel, and if not you feel like that with the 360 degree views at the top. Steep climb and apparently a trail that isn’t used all that often, but worth the journey.

Lost Spring –  Basically an outdoor spa that taps into the hot underwater thermal pools. Large pools among a tropical type setting, and none of the crowds that inhabit Hot Water Beach.

Just booked trips to Wellington (capital of NZ and second biggest city) and the South Island. Check back for the next trip. 

San Diego

We made a stop in San Diego on the way back to New Zealand to celebrate Dana’s birthday. I’ve been to San Diego a few times before, but this trip brought some new sights and a renewed admiration for the city.  First morning we met up for breakfast with good college friend and faithful blog reader Chris Amatuzzi, his wife Elisa and their adorable twin boys in Orange County. It was a minor miracle that we were able to pull it off as trying to meet up without cell phones is incredibly challenging. How did we function before cell phones? The rest of the day we traveled down the pacific coast highway with a stop in La Jolla.

After spending some time lingering around La Jolla and enjoying the coastal views, we moved on to Balboa Park. This has to be one of the top city parks I’ve visited, with fantastic museums, rose and cactus gardens, and plenty of area to enjoy the outdoors.

We stayed at Hotel del Coronado, a resort on Coronado Island that has been operating since the 1880’s. It has a romantic historic charm and a beautiful setting right off the ocean. We noticed while there that some of the designs from the Sanibel Harbour Resort where we were married were likely taken from Hotel Del. Dinner was at Seasucker in the Gaslamp district, a restaurant of Top Chef finalist Brian Malarky- highly recommended for anyone making a visit to San Diego.

Next day we visited the San Diego zoo, which is huge. We spent the majority of the day there and didn’t get to see all the animals!

This giraffe was huge, and gladly posed for a picture with Dana.

For other zoo pictures, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/114612877246919085926/SanDiegoZoo#

God Bless The USA

It was great to be home! Our trip back was as uneventful as a 30 hour plane trip could possibly be. The only thing noteworthy was the rough exterior of our entrance back into the USA at the perpetually horrible Los Angeles Airport. Dana and I had a heated verbal dispute with a customs officer who was insisting that we were permanent New Zealand residents. Thus in his mind we had the entry card completely wrong and should be subjected to "double secret probation". Just another reason why I’m not a huge fan of LA. But the rest of our trip was filled with family, friends and the comforts of home. We enjoyed time in Atlanta with Huck and the Morris', Boston with the Hines', and our Maryland and Delaware family and friends. We indulged in things that you can’t consume in New Zealand like Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts coffee, Gatorade, country music, orange juice, US TV, and mom's carrot cake.

We celebrated many things during our trip including: (1) Dana’s birthday (we’ll cover this more in the next post) (2) Huckle’s birthday (October 24^th) which may or may not be his real birthday, but was the day we picked him up as a rescue (3) Thanksgiving (not a holiday in New Zealand) (4) Heather Hines' birthday, and (5) Kevin Buck and Cassie Stoyer’s wedding. Some notes on the wedding: The ceremony was at the Old Otterbein church adjacent to Camden Yards and the reception at the Frederick Douglas museum. Both fantastic venues! Having attended many many weddings in the past couple of years, this one ranked near the top. Bonus for us was that we got to catch up with college friends. The happy couple is now off to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. They are staying at the St. Regis, which I’ve heard is one of the best hotels in the world. Dana has clearly stated that she’s jealous.

We also had great visits with each of our grandparents, old coworkers in Baltimore and Christiana. A bunch of you commented that you were keeping up with the blog, so thanks for reading. The trip back put a little damper on posting, but we have some exciting trips coming up in New Zealand to post about. I will cover our last couple of days in San Diego in the next post.

The swans in the lake adjacent to the Morris family house in Atlanta.  

Princess Gracie, the Morris family dog and Huckle playmate.

Huck and Gracie are very interested in Huck's birthday cake.

Tasty Golumpki made by Grammy Hines.  

Spring Blooms

Two adventures this past week. One to Long Bay, a regional park on the eastern side of Auckland and second to a rose garden / park in the Auckland neighborhood of Parnell. Long Bay was very popular with dog owners on a Sunday afternoon. The entire beach area was filled with dogs, most of them off leach chasing a ball. Perhaps I'm just to used to the slightly unpredictable Huckle (see first post on his Marley moment of jumping out of the car after a squirrel), but the Kiwi dogs seem very well behaved. We're leaving tomorrow morning on our 27 hour journey to Atlanta, and speaking of dogs....expect a post or two of Huckle pictures in the next week.