Heading south from the Coromadel Peninsula, our first stop was a hike to Cathedral Cove. The start of the hike is high above the shore. Our destination is a few bluffs over and not in this view.
Beautiful but steep hike down - some thru cool tropical forest.
We saw this beautiful pheasant and his mate on the walk down.
It took about 45 minutes to get to the shore level.
And here is Cathedral Cove! Beautiful arched opening.
We tried to get a photo showing the arch, but the sun was just at a wrong angle....
Outside the arch, the light was better!
By the time we'd wandered the shore a bit, the early morning crowds had arrived. We quickly made tracks back to the top of the cliff.....much harder hiking back out up the trail uphill!!
I'm trying to capture the "feel" of the place....it is truly beautiful. The sun needs to cooperate, though!
Along our way was a stop at Karanahake Gorge - an old gold mining area for a couple of walks along their historic trail. There was a gold smelting operation here in the early 1900's - this structure held the cyanide tanks!
It's a local draw - they run a kid's train along the old tracks that were used in the gold operation.
And we walked about a mile to see a pretty waterfall along their trail.
I can't believe Duane's holding still for all these photos!! I have to make them good the first time since he doesn't like to do re-takes, haha!
A historic train run by the same group - reminds me of the train in New Hill/Bonsal.
Another view of the landscape. Still overcast!
The little towns we're driving thru are just quaint....but busy! And there are almost NO redlights. Most intersections, even in the big cities, are roundabouts.
We've noticed these extremely tall, narrow hedges. They seem to be everywhere. I can't imagine their function other than as a privacy fence. They're obviously well trimmed - I'd say they are 20' tall or taller....
The hedges run for hundreds of feet....and not just along the roadsides. It's just interesting noticing the differences in other countries. I just wonder what equipment they use to trim them - they chop off the top flat too.
Almost to our stopping point for the evening....but I had one more hike on the list. See that mountain in the distance? That's Mt. Maunganui....while doing my research months ago, I had picked out a hike that would take us to the top....
I didn't realize how tall the peak was!! Oh well, we were committed to follow through with it....so off we went!
Some sweet sheep grazing on the mountainside near the path.
Part of the path towards the summit. It was steep!! (Crazy thing is that we saw several folks JOGGING up the slope, whew....)
At the top - overlooking the bay and touristy town below.
The walk down was MUCH easier....although some it was over stairs - which are a little hard on the old knees on the way down.....
That's it for today - my Garmin watch says we walked 8.2 miles and climbed 138 stories. Now we rest!!
2 comments:
Very interesting scenery. These daily updates are the way to go. Six weeks at one time would be a long "show and tell".
I think Duane is enjoying this as much as you, even the pictures of the two of you. MOM
...all lovely...and those hedges are cccrrraaazzzyyy...
Love,
T
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