02:03 [new year]

It feels like a lifetime ago that we set out on a trip around the north of our country. A new year trip away from the city an into the unknown excitement of new, unexplored territory. The first part of the trip revolved around family Christmas commitments in Rotorua so the initial northward journey was rather rapid as we headed from Wellington to Rotorua making only a few stops.

From Rotorua we aimed for Auckland, cutting across country on the busy holiday season roads. Auckland traffic was something new, a different scale from the simple motorway networks of Wellington and soon we were lost, bewildered and on the verge of frustration. After much round and round we located some road that looked like it might take us in the general direction of our destination, Bethels Beach.

The beach was beautiful, the sandflies were not. We stayed a couple of nights and then moved on, cutting back across the huge (in our terms) city and weaving our way round the hibiscus coast toward Themes. From here we ventured out along the Coromandel peninsula, a lovely, isolated piece of paradise populated with native trees and surrounded by deep clear waters, little islands and the great wide open.

We celebrated the New Year on a quiet beach with a bottle of fine wine and a fire, looking out to sea and listening to the rush of the waves mark time. From here it was all down hill round the coats lines of the East Cape, Gisborne and finally back through the Hawkes Bay to Wellington. An amazing trip that will stick with me forever. This gallery contains a selection of images taken on the trip, take a look and see what you can see out that way. Click images for a larger view.