May 2004 - I left Auckland late in the afternoon and sped south towards the bay of Thames. The picture below was the first time I hit the coast.. the sun was already getting low and I was in danger of missing the opportunity to photograph a large section of the coast on the way to Cathedral Bay.
Thames Bay was a bit on the murky side at the end furtherest from the ocean, probably due to all the rain that had just fallen. Further along the way the water quickly turned to the pure crystal blue that New Zealand oceans are famous for.

Deadman's Point, below, is typical of much of the coastline I saw on the 4 hour trip...(Should have been shorter, but I kept stopping to either take photos or buy the cheap seafood that was everywhere!)...wide ranging green fields full of white sheep merging into deep blue water ways. This section of the coast was close to the town of Coramandel, not far from where Thames bay meets the Pacific.

While taking this photo I must have parked too close to the side of the road as my car was slightly scratched by another car that must have sideswiped me. The rental car company charged me $750 nz dollars for the damage.. which was luckily covered by my travel insurance. Even luckier.. they paid me back in Aus dollars.. so I ended up making a small profit... and rightly so!

At Coramandel town I had the choice to take a small dirt track north to the tip of the peninsula, or continue east to Cathedral bay. As the sun was about to set I decided I should continue on, and a few miles later was treated to one of the most colourful sunsets I have ever seen (Top Picture). The whole beach literally changed to first a yellow colour then an orange colour for around 5 minutes before dulling away. Right then I was glad I hadn't stayed in my Auckland hotel room!