NZ2006 5June Monday Waihi

5June06 Monday

Today is the Queen’s Birthday holiday and everyone has had a long holiday weekend.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

We drove from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Coromandel Town down the east coast to just south of Waihi at Athenree Campervan Park.  We were going on towards Taurangi and find a campground there but it was getting dusk and rather than ending up driving after dark we decided to pull in to this campground.

 

As it turns out the campground has a large hot tub and Joan and I both enjoyed about an hour in the tub with about six or seven others.  One lady had a kiwiftuit farm and we had a nice discussion with her.  They like to have some cold weather just prior to picking the fruit to increase the sugar level in it but not extreme freezing cold.  She said that they had sprinklers installed in their groves to prevent frost damage.  Before the sprinklers they had to hire helicopters.  Some use motor driven propellers or fans to keep the air moving.  Sounds a lot like orange growing in Florida.  The kiwifruit grows on what looks like very bushy short trees staked in line almost like grape vines.

 

Parts of the road today was real “white-knuckler” with a lot of twists and turns.  Guess that you would have to say it was both vertically and straight line challenging.  Some turns forced you to about 20 kms/hr.  I think that Joan was feigning sleeping or at least her eyes were closed.

 

After we were settled in Joan was reading a brochure for the town of Waihi which is a few kms back and we had driven through.  It is the site of a very large gold mine which back in 1909 the production peaked with 1600 people employed there.  Production tapered off and eventually the mine closed in 1952.  Later it was sold and reopened and is still in operation today.  They apparently have tours so we intend to backtrack some and check it out tomorrow.