wrinkles in the south

wrinkles - that's what our cycle guy calls hills in the coromandel, which, after doing five days there, we dare call them too. huh! our muscles are like stone now and getting up another couple of metres is not a deadly adventure anymore :-)
so. our first day in coromandel was a surprisingly succesful one after we managed to go almost 60km and get over three 'big mamas' even though we started cycling late afternoon. incredible views were a great excuse for taking breaks and pictures. the serenity of the place called new zealand, again, filled us completely.
next couple of days was a chain of what i'd nicknamed 'antisuccess events'. well, there it comes:
- i don't really know how the scientists know that, but it IS a fact that women can't read maps. at least some of them. we really wanted to do the coastal walk so next day we set off happily for the very tip of the coromandel peninsula. three hours (and climbs) later we realised that we're only halfway. being very determined we didn't give up though and decided to leave the bikes and hitchike the rest of the way there. so we did, catching a nice ride with a canadian-american couple...
- after damaging my phone by getting it in the ditch i hoped the new one i had just bought would last me for a while. apparently, after walking seven kilometres to get to our destination, i realised i didn't have the phone. well, instead of seven we did twenty, going all the way back to look for it cause i might have lost it in the grass when i chased wild turkeys with my camera. it wasn't there...
- we did tha walk (which turned out to be a very scienic and pleasant)and only when we got to stony bay did we realise that this place was completely deserted and the only means of transport we could count on was our own legs. fortunately we were spared a thirty-something walk thanks to a DOC (Departament of Conservation) park wardens who threw us onto the back of their pick up and got us out of the place...

well, there's always something good to happen to make up for the bad you bring on yourself. i got my phone back - i left it in the car of the couple that gave us a lift the other day. somehow i managed to target them so me and my nokia were reunited.
we managed to complete the coromandel circuit within a few days (some of them quite adventurous :-)))) and headed for rotorua this morning.
i hope all of you are having fun. see you soooooon!