New Zealand Day 14

Last day in the Coromandel. Headed into town to have a look at the old mining operations in Waihi which were quite fascinating. Central to the town is a huge old Cornish pumphouse which in fact was moved to its present site back in 2006 because the underground mi ing operations were putting it at risk. Incredible piece of engineering - they excavated to under the foundations and then slid the whole building on runners for about 300 metres! The open cut mine still employs 400 people but mostly underground pits drive off the open cut and under parts of town.

We then drove to Waihi Beach where you do a walk North along the beach and then a track takes you over some very high rocky outcrops eventually getting to Orokawa Bay.
While the weather was quite bright and sunny for us, there had been a significant storm overnight and the previous week had been wet so the track was wet, slippery and sticky clay made it an interesting and challenging walk.
We eventually got to the Bay which was worth all the effort. Elizabeth had cut her finger on a piece of grass as she grabbed to stop slipping and when we got to the Bay there were a couple of Dept. Environment workers cutting the grass so they very happily gave her a bandaid from their kit.
Same walk back - met an English hiker who called it bog-hopping which was pretty accurate.
Back home by late afternoon  but really enjoyed the walk actually.
Went to the Stirling Hotel for dinner - both had a Guiness hotpot for dinner (beautiful) and accompanied that with a Guiness as well. Wonderful.