Trip North part 5

As per usually we were not in a big rush to get over to Coromandel Peninsula, so we took our time and even took a little detour for a soak in hot mineral water in Miranda. After our soak we made our way to Thames where we figured we would spend our first night on the Peninsula since it was getting late. The first hostel that we stop at was not very appealing and we thought maybe we should try to get further up the Peninsula to another place mentioned in Lonely Planet. Unfortunately this was not to happen. We were about fifteen or so minutes outside of Thames when Glenn said I think there is something wrong with the car. Coromandel is known for its windy and narrow roads. But we found a place to pull over and pop the hood to see if the oil was low or something. We had a little trouble earlier in the trip with our oil getting low. This did not seem to be the problem but the wire connecting to the battery was pretty loose and I forgot to pack my tools. Glenn was getting pretty worried about this and his worry increased when we got back in the car and tried to start it up. Nothing! Well I decided it was time to flag down some help. So I got out of the car and waved down the first car to pass by. They had some tools and tried to help by tightening the wire to the battery but this still did not seem to get the car going. We thought Glenn could get a ride into town with them but they were driving a van full of kids and pets. I figured we could just flag down someone else. Megan had also gotten out of the car at this point and we both were flagging cars down. The next guy to stop was driving a truck. He pulled out his jumper cables to see if a jump would get the car going. The car did start this time and we waved goodbye to the guy. But as soon as we all got in the car it died again. Again we piled out of the car and tried flagging down people. Our next helpers were a French couple on vacation driving a van with fish painted all over the sides. They were more helpful then anyone. The husband tried everything--filling the battery's water up and fiddling with the jumper cables but nothing seemed to work. We decided Glenn needed to go back into Thames and call AA (also known as Triple A) and get someone out to help. The French couple only had room for him to ride in. We told him we would wait or get another ride in. At this point I thought it would be better if we tried to get a ride into Thames so we flagged down some more cars till we found one that was going into Thames. We piled in with our backpacks and hoped that we would be able to find Glenn in Thames. Luckily the nice folks that picked us up took us to the first service station in Thames. There we caught up with Glenn, who was getting in the AA tow truck heading out to get our car. I am sure the people that gave Megan and I a ride in thought we were a little nuts, as I jumped out of the car and ran to catch Glenn before he left to get the car because I had to give him the KEYS to the car. Phew! We told him to meet us back at that first hostel we had gone. We thought it was our best option as we had no car and it was raining. The car was towed to Thames and would be taken to a mechanic on Monday. It was Saturday. We were able to get a rental car though because we had AA Plus so the next morning after checking out of the hostel and having breakfast we were on the road again in our rental car. That day in our rental car we made it to Whitianga. There we checked into a hostel known as the Cats Pajamas. This hostel had a nice warm homey feel a very pleasant change from the cold creepy place we spent the night before. When we arrived the owner was recruiting guests to help here decorate the living space with Christmas decorations. By the evening there was a sparkling Christmas tree and tinsels filling the room. That night we tried to go to a cafe called Eggscentric, in Cook Beach just a five-minute ferry ride away. But the cafe was closed for the evening because there was a band playing that night and tickets were sold out. Though we were not able to eat at the cafe we did enjoy their sculpture garden in their front yard.


Megan as Aphrodite.