We walked out of the airport, into the cool morning air, and over to our car, which was very near the entrance. The rental was with Thrifty, but since there was not a Thrifty branch at the airport, and we were arriving outside their hours, they had delivered the car to the parking lot, and left the keys with the airport's information desk. As Jake went to the machine to pay the parking, I settled us in the car. Then I got into the passenger seat, where our driver's seat usually is, and Jake got into the driver's where the passenger's seat usually is. Without further ado, we were on our way to our first destination. Now because we it took us an hour and a half to get out of the airport, we did have to rearrange our overly optimistic schedule. This was anticipated, and I even had alternate directions printed.
We had a reservation for the 10:15 AM train ride on the Driving Creek Railway. Driving Creek started out as a pottery. The owner gradually build a rather extensive narrow gauge rail system for his collection of clay from the hillsides. The rail finally developed to such a point, that it was opened as a tourist attraction, as a fun and unique way to explore the semi-tropical rain forest.
Our first stop when we arrived on the main street in Coromandel was at a little cafe for breakfast. Here we were first impressed with the Euro/American juxtaposition of this corner of the world. The main street was lined with low flat fronted buildings, most with steel awnings over the wide sidewalks, a setting that would fit in many small American towns. but the wide windows at the front of the store were flung open to the cool morning air, which is not so common here at home. Inside were a smattering of cheap tables and cheap chairs, like you'd find in your average ma and pa place, but the meat pies in the serve yourself case were not like anything you find here at home. And while the man at the table looked like the average American farmer, the voices coming over the radio, a call-in want-ad show, had a tenor to them that was decidedly not a southern drawl.
We picked out some meat pies and settled down to eat. While I have to say I loved the meat pies, Jake was not so impressed. After eating, we headed up the road just a little way to the parking lot for Driving Creek. We took out time wandering about a bit, as it was only just time to open, and still an hour before our scheduled departure. We saw out first Tui on some flax flowers, and our first Silver Ferns up close. We found that there is a short trail into the forest, and as we explored we learned the names of trees we would see throughout out trip. Recently planted Kauri trees, with their tiny leaves, the Rimu which resemble weeping fir trees, Nikau palms, and the impressive fern trees, all of which combined with damp air and quit to give the forest a Jurassic air.
After exploring the short trail, and the somewhat dilapidated sculpture garden, we settled in to watch a video on the owner and creator of the track system. Finally, the time came to board the little train, and make our way up the hill. The train winds past more than just the green forest however.
There was sculpture along the way, and retaining walls built from wine and beer bottles. There was a tunnel decorated with terra cotta, and even a double decker bridge.
There were also several switchbacks, there the train literally drove into a dead end, switched the tracks, then continued in reverse to the switch. After a brief stop at an older overlook, we continued the last leg of the journey to the ultimate lookout point, the eye-full tower. As we were to discern from the witty names of many shops and restaurants we would see throughout our trip, New Zealaner's love a good pun. The views from the top were impressive, showing the rolling hills covered in rain forest and the blue sea to the north. After returning to the train, we retraced our steps and returned to the base of the hill and our car, to head for our next destination, also on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula, the Cathedral Cove at Hahei
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