Sunday 15th March
Tauranga to Coromandel
This morning we drove up the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula passing many kiwi fruit farms. The branches appeared to be supported by wires and we saw sheep grazing the grass underneath some.

We stopped in Waihi to view the two hundren metre deep hole that is the Martha Goldmine. The huge earth moving vehicles looked like small toys. It takes one ton of rock to produce three to six grams of gold.

We then took a break further up the coast at Hot Water Beach where we waited until the tide was well out. You walk along the beach until you find the areas of hot sand then dig and the hole fills with hot water from thermal springs below. There were lots of people, particularly adults, enjoying digging in the sand then relaxing in the hot pools.

As we crossed the Coromandel Range there were huge areas of tall grasses growing on the hillsides.

We stopped at a viewpoint just outside Coromandel Town and could clearly see the areas that we had just come from.