It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

 Merry Christmas for tomorrow! I'm now at the Howes, about to experience my first Summer Christmas. The vegetables are chopped and the Turkey's in the oven ready for our Christmas dinner tonight.
It still doesn't quite feel like Christmas as I've spent the past week at the beach, seeking shade from the sun; but it's getting there.
I've just spent the past week travelling around the Coromandel on my own, mostly in Hahei but with one night in Tairua and one in Thames. (At the top is a picture from Mount Paku, looking down on Tairua, Pauanui and Ocean Beach.)

 I was blessed with fabulous weather all week meaning that I could go down to the beach for a swim and to read my book every day. I spent one day on Cathedral cove again, one snorkelling in gemstone bay where there were some huge Snapper and pretty spotty and stripy fish (I must admit I'm not an expert on fish identification!). On the Wednesday I hitch hiked, along with another guy to make sure it was safe, to hot  water beach where we shared our hole with two very sweet kids.

 I cycled across to Cooks Beach on Friday and up to Shakespeare's Cliff (named by Cook because of it's resemblance to the cliffs in Dover.); I regretted choosing to cycle it half way up the very steep climb. All in all the cycling went very well and I was able to stop off for some plums on the road side on the way back. Only slight issue was when my chain came off and got stuck, but after a fair bit of yanking I was back on the road again.

To the right is the view from the top of Shakespeare's cliff. I was very lucky with my hostel's through out the week, they were all very friendly and well kept; especially the one in Thames, Gateway backpackers. The free BBQ was a nice surprise and it was lovely to sit back in the evening and watch a film in their TV lounge with the very friendly owner.

After a fantastic week of lone travelling I returned to civilisation by taking a bus to Auckland where I was met by Karen. It's nice to be back with the Howes for christmas. On that first night, after a monkfish curry, we went out to Auckland to see the Christmas lights on one very brightly lit street.
Yesterday Karen and I had a wonderful and sunny day on Waiheke Island. We took the ferry across at about 8.05am then wandered  to the nearby town for a very tasty blueberry and lemon scone before walking around 6.5km to Palm Beach. From here we just managed to catch a bus to the beautiful Stoneyridge vineyard for the most fantastic lunch and wine tasting. The photo above is of my lamb with garlic and kumara; the perfect Christmas present.
After taking a very crowded bus and ferry back we went out for a Thai meal along with Andrew and George then met up with their friends.
Travelling alone was a great experience and I enjoyed it for the week but it's nice to be back with people I know again. Looking forward to Christmas celebrations over the next couple of days; particularly the arrival of my parents on the 27th!

Merry Christmas from down under!!