Remarkably, we had visitors while we were hunkered down at Motui.
Mike was out on Daruma with his daughter Karla and her boyfriend Daniel, and they stopped by to see who was crazy enough to be anchored there in such weather. Mike’s made several trips between New Zealand and Fiji, and we shared sea stories over turkish coffee onboard Khamseen before he and his crew continued on their way.
We finally got tired of listening to our anchor snubbers groan as we were batted back and forth by the cats paws reaching around both sides of the tiny island and into our mouse hole like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. So we headed back south to the quieter anchorages off the village of Coromandel.
As it happened, the weather eased the next day so we decided to take a Sunday stroll in town. We headed out as the rising tide filled the shallow but well-marked channel up the river into town.
Veteran vessels lined the way.
The bridge made a handy place to tie the dinghy.
Most of the stores in town were closed, but we did get to see the mining museum, which was full of cool rock specimens and mining equipment, and lots of photos and odds and ends from Coromandel’s history.
The road out of town was peppered with super-cute old houses behind roses and white picket fences and sheep eyeing us suspiciously from under persimmon trees.
We didn’t score any persimmons, but we did pick up a bag of Coromandel’s finest fejoias.
These spoon-sized little gems have a grainy texture like guavas (or pears), a sweet tangy flavor a little like strawberries, and a wonderful flowery fragrance.
We ended our day in town with huge supper at the Admiral’s Arms. K’s steak and S’s fish and chips both came with the traditional (and curious but highly nutritious) side of beets and fried eggs.