Worst Blog Ever

Today, on our last day in Cooper's Beach, we got up at about 6:30 am to be out the door by 7:00 am.  As is usual for a trip, we actually didn't get going until after 7:20 am.

We drove back to Kerikeri one more time in order to purchase a couple of slices that we would have for our desserts.  We were going to buy a coffee from a shop nearby, but they were closed. :-(

From Kerikeri, we travelled to Kawakawa for one more stop at the world famous bathrooms, both functional and beautiful.  We stopped in Hikurangi for a coffee that was suppose to be free as part of a Keep The Driver Awake campaign (see two blog entries previous), but they said they didn't honour the coupons as the government was suppose to reimburse them for the milk and cups, but they have not received any reimbursements.  We bought the coffee anyway.

Our next stop was in Waipu, which is a place that was settled by people from Ireland, via Nova Scotia!  We picked up a gift for Kristie's sister at a farmer's market there.

After Waipu, we journeyed back towards the sea, where we hung out in Matakana for a while.  Matakana was a very small, but vibrant community with great shops and some good restaurants.  While there we sampled a bar of Bennet's chocolate with fejoa.  It was absolutely amazing!  So much so, we journeyed backwards to Mangawhai, where the Bennett's factory is located.  The drive out to Bennett's was quite a scenic romp in itself.  When we arrived at Bennett's we purchased some loose chocolates as well as a couple more bars for the road.  After our stop at the chocolate factory, we went onto the Mangawhai heads for a beach picnic.

Now, as we had lost three hours worth of driving, and circled back about 60 Km in total, it was time to get to our destination in Raglan.  We drove, pretty much, non-stop all the way, going directly through Auckland, circumnavigating Hamilton, and finally arrived at Raglan at about 6:00 pm.

Very much like the start of our journey, we bought a pizza and ate it along the waterfront with the pups before getting into the bach and heading off to sleep.