Opito Bay

Black Jack Road: Joel met a really nice guy named Tony who owns a local scuba shop. He offered us the use of his beach house (his Bach -- pronounced "Batch" as they say in NZ) and we took him up on the offer. The bach is located in Opito Bay, which is on the Pacific side of the Coromandel Peninsula. It takes about an hour and a half to drive to the bottom of the peninsula and another two and half hours to drive up it to Opito Bay. The roads twisted and curved and many times it seemed as if we were going to fall into the sea. The last stretch of the trip took us over an unpaved mountain called Blackjack Road.

After returning to Hamilton, we learned that insurance companies won't cover you if you get into an accident while on Black Jack Road -- that's how dangerous it is. But, the scary trip was worth it. Opito Bay was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was great. For pictures of our travel, click here.

Opito Bay: The bay is absolutely beautiful with crystal blue water that was 74 degrees. The waves were pretty mild and the kids would have liked them a little stronger for body surfing and boogy boarding -- but they had fun nonetheless. There were islands all around and a lot of interesting vegetation and birds. For pictures of the beach, click here.

Kayaking: We were allowed to try our hands at kayaking in Opito Bay. We were able to take the kayaks from our backyard and travel down a creek to the beach. For pictures, click here.

Whitianga: Joel needed to do some things on the internet for his Ph.D class, and since the batch was without phone or internet acces, we had to travel to a really nice beach town, Whitianga. Although it meant another trip (there and back) over Black Jack Road, the town was really nice and the girls got to play with a Golden Retriever named Bailey that reminded them of Bear at home. For pictures, click here.