Thames on the Coromandel Penninsula

Light rain started when we arrived at the Coastal Motor Lodge where we have a view over the Firth of Thames from our studio chalet.



Thames was developed in the 1800s gold rush. It has many historic buildings, especially along the main street. We picked up some groceries at the Pak'nSave supermarket, then ate dinner at the noisy Junction Hotel. The hotel serves free finger food to its customers to presumably stop them getting drunk too soon.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drive Napier to Whanganui

Image
Our first stop was at the Hastings Farmers' Market, which is so popular it is held every Sunday - sun, rain or hail. The queues for coffee were too long for us to wait, but we bought two lovely croissants from a French baker's stall. We picked up coffees in town at the cinema cafe. Something we don't see at home is milk being sold in reusable bottles. It is decanted from a bulk container so is labour intensive. We stopped for lunch at Palmerston North. There are several wall murals in the city but none were very good. The art deco style "Ladies Rest" was built in 1937. Inside there are arm chairs in a lounge area, original tiles and some original plumbing. When first built it was just rendered, but the current colours work really well.
Read more

Fingal Bay

Image
I scootered 4kms along the bike path to Fingal Bay. This bay is outside Port Stephens but I was surprised to see a Surf Life Saving Club because the sea was absolutely flat. The sand spit can wash away during high tides stranding people on Mount Stephens.
Read more

Wanganui

Image
The town's name is spelt without an h, but the river is Whanganui. There have even been referenda about the spelling, with or without the h. Finally the powers that govern such things decreed either is acceptable for the name of the town. This must be a challenge for computer mapping programs and manufacturers of GPS guidance technology. These wonderful old buildings are in Victoria Avenue, down near the river. They date from the mid 1800s and have been well preserved. Earthquakes caused significant damage in 1843 and 1897, but not to the same extent as the destruction of much of Napier. In the past month there have been dozens of earthquakes rated weak to moderate in New Zealand and nearby waters, including a magnitude 4.1 quake 30 kms south of Wanganui (in the Cook Strait between the north and south islands). Fingers crossed there won't be another disastrous event.
Read more