Thames

16th November 2009 We left Hahei for the last time this morning to once again head for Cormorandal Town. This time we took a more direct route across the mountains. Whilst this was mainly an unsealed road, the route was much quicker and offered different views to what we’d seen yesterday, climbing and snaking as it does through native bushland. We were also able to stop at Waihu Falls, a small waterfall up in the mountains, which was in full flow after heavy rain last night. ...

17th November 2009 We made our way back to Auckland today via the coastal road all the way from Thames. There are stunning views on this route over the Firth of Thames looking back towards the Cormorandal region where we have spent the last few days. We stopped at various points along the way to do a minor spot of twitching since this area is particularly famous for its seabirds. Unfortunately the extremely changeable weather put paid to us exploring the Miranda Shorebird Reserve. ...