Our holiday in Ohope

Allie surprised us at Christmas with news of our family gift for this year. She arranged for us to spend four nights in Ohope at a three bedroom holiday home. And, we were to take a ferry out to White Island, an active volcano about 30 miles out in to the Pacific for a tour of its caldera.  

Ohope is a small beach town in the eastern Bay of Plenty. It's just over the hill from the city of Whatakane, (Fah tah kah knee) which I'll tell you a little about as well during the next few posts. 

This area is reputed to have the sunniest weather in all of NZ, and we saw some of that, but we also happened to get a dose of rain and choppy seas. It turned our trip to the volcano into a bit of an ordeal. It didn't ruin it. But we were certainly tested. 

And we came through it. I'll talk more about it during that post, but I've got to say that I am one proud grandpa. Amiri and Arram did not behave as children when the going got tough, they dealt with the adversity as adults would have and rose above it. 

Let's get started with the trip. Ohope is about a four hour drive from our home in Henderson, but we made a couple of brief stops along the way to see some sights, so we were on the road about six hours. 

Our first stop was in Paeroa, the small town where, back in 1907, lemon juice was added to the local carbonated mineral water, and L & P was born. It is now owned by the Coca-Cola, but continues to be "World Famous, in New Zealand." 

 We are heading up through the Karangahake Gorge. We'll see more of this area on our way home. 

 The road winds between cliffs as it climbs. Beautiful to look at, but you don't make much time along this stretch. 

 Our next stop was in the town of Waihi, which was the center of the gold mining operations in the area. This town is located at the base of the Coromandel Region.
I noticed the Cornish Pumphouse information on this sign. It made me feel as though I had been transported to Michigan's 'Copper Country,' or to Iron Mountain. Both boast Cornish Pumps. 

 I felt right at home as we explored the ruins...I told the boys about hiking in the woods in Castile Location in Wakefield, Michigan as a boy and 'discovering' old mining buildings that had been reclaimed by the forest. 

I remember walking past the Engine House on Castile Road and seeing the cables running over head that lifted the mined ore from the deep tunnels.  

We've now walked up to the rim of the pit. 
 Gold was mined here both in underground tunnels and in this open pit. I told the boys about the even larger open pit in my home town of Wakefield, Michigan, where iron ore was mined. 

 As we stood looking down into the pit, we could also look up into the hills above us. As I said earlier, these are the beginnings of the Coromandel Range. 
Since Hobbiton is not too far away, Allie has always referred to these as the Misty Mountains, which featured prominately in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  And misty they are. 

 We're back on the road again and are now down along the eastern coast, getting close to our destination. The mists that we first spotted high in the mountains, seem to have followed us. 

 We have stopped at the Whatakane Yacht Club. Just yesterday, Allie read of an elephant seal that had come ashore at the club and seemed intent on staying for a visit. We really hoped that he would still be here when we arrived but were disappointed. 
Check this out:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12185144


This statue we found at the club of Kiwiboy seemed to be trying to spot the seal for us so our guys joined in. 

 We made it! There's our house. It's the one highest up in the center of the picture with the greenish roof and white balcony. 

 The view as we step from our car. It doesn't look it, but that driveway is about the steepest I've ever ridden up. 

A view to the west from the drive way.
 I think of them as palm trees, but they are really black fern trees. And that is Moutohora Island, a preditor-free bird reserve. 

 We've settled in. We've had a full day. Allie is planning to pick up Thai takeaway for dinner and we'll spend the evening watching the surf from over the rooftops of those few houses between us and the beach.   -djf