Road to Ruin?

There are some things that we take for granted in the UK. If course we all have a moan from time to time about how crap it all is, about how nothing works properly and about just how poor the state the roads are in. And in many cases we are right. Many but not all. 

But I have yet to hear anyone say a bad word about our road signs. Sure, we may not like the message but there is no denying their accuracy. And anyone who suggests otherwise can meet me in the car park around the back for a good talking to.

If I was in any doubt (which I wasn't) then today's exploits would've dispelled any such thoughts. So far, sudden pant-wetting braking incidents aside, travel in New Zealand has been uneventful. In a good way. 

Today we decided to travel to Coromandel - it was only 40km or so away - so it should've been a relatively easy journey. Turning onto route 309, and taking the mist direct route to our destination , we were presented with a road sign informing us that the route was steep, winding and a bit gravelly. The sign was right in the first two instances but the third? A BIT GRAVELLY!! The entire 22km was essentially off road. To be fair there were short sections of Tarmac surface. About 300m in total. It was dusty, slow, winding, steep, up, down with vertiginous drops. So 'a bit gravelly' was a understatement to end all understatements. In a cheap hire car it was not fun. A bit gravelly indeed.

To add to the fun we got a puncture. Yes a puncture. Totally flat. As a pancake. Yes it could've happened anywhere but after ten miles on a gravel road in a budget hire car something was bound to give. The whole experience would've a lot more traumatic if it weren't for the helpful locals. And that in itself is so typical of this place - everyone bends over backward to help you out. Quite literally in the case of the chap who crawled under the car to help find the hacking point. 

Anyway within minutes of us stopping, and one tyre change in the searing sun later we were on our way.

What we travelled on for almost a tortuous hour was not a road. Hell it wouldn't even have qualified for a forest track in the UK. And the sign? Well I'd like to think that in the UK we'd have been a bit more descriptive. Maybe with a diagram. And a red triangle.

Thankfully out destination was well worth it. Coromandel Town is a stunning place -  gold frontier town meets coastal resort. Full of quirky tea shops, craft type places and all in the style of a gold panning town. South Pacific meets Colorado. And a huge slab of cake and a cup of tea was just what we needed after that journey. For once the excuse was genuine. 

Stop press: The moonlight on the sea tonight is amazing. It looks like a movie set. It's that good.