The Crossing-Place

Once again, I have made a belated start to my blogging for 2008. However, I am attempting to fight off my post-holiday lethargy and get back into it. At the close of my last post, I briefly outlined where Dan and I went on our 6-day tiki tour of Coromandel. During our trip, we were based in the harbour town of Whitianga (see view of the town above in the first picture). The full name of the town is 'Te Whitianga-a-Kupe' or, 'The Crossing-Place of Kupe', a reference to the ancient Polynesian explorer. Despite it being peak holiday season, the town didn't feel too crowded or over-run, and we had a very mellow time. The only major slowdown due to the increased population was a 45-min wait at the fish-and-chip shop!

We stayed at a motel which was somewhat prosaically called Albert No 6 (it was located at no 6 Albert St) and it had a slightly...er... eccentric air about it. The rooms were fairly basic, but there was a toast-and-jam breakfast thrown in for the price, and it was very close to the main beach. It was run, however, by an antipodean, female Del-boy, who appeared to lose no opportunity to make money! The third photo in this post shows a sign that was up in our room (and presumably in all the others as well). For sale at the office, and no doubt cheap at the price, was a toilet and standing wash-basin! And when I say 'at the office' there was a 'live' version of each on display outside the door... But wait! There's more.... Not only could you purchase said bathroom suite, but you could also purchase a fractional share in the title of the motel itself. This would get you a certain percentage of the profits and a free place to stay... but only in the off-peak season. The motel website also listed further 'great' deals for holidaymakers in the form of murder-mystery weekends and international student packages. The owner certainly didn't miss a trick and her chutzpah added to the our enjoyment of the holiday...