
Songs used in this section:
Road to Nowhere by Nouvelle Vague, Let’s Go Surfing by The Drums, Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes, The Champion by The Bongolian, and Just Walking in the Rain by Johnny Ray.
I suppose not so surprisingly there are a few sheep here in New Zealand ;) But as we came round the corner here I’ve never heard such a strange cacophony. And enormous field stuffed with sheep all “AAAaaaaaaahhhhh”-ing their heads off. High pitched, low pitched, squeaky, all kinds of sheep accents – a whole chorus of them. Oddly fascinating to listen to this super multi layered sheep soundscape! We got some on video so we can treat you to that later ;)
I’m packing Marmite as a special luxury for this section. And it’s bloody amazing. So I’ve tried to pay tribute to it’s taste bud boggling qualities by shooting it a soft focus vignette portrait…
I’m picturing a piece of history here. When Marmite first came to these shores in the handbag of arrogant chef Captain Cook, he had no idea that the Maori had already invented it hundreds of years before. ‘Marmite’ in NZ comes in red cylindrical pots. So poor old Pomme Marmite is relegated to the name Our Mate… It’s just not cricket is it!
The weather was a bit poop for the start of the Coromandel Walkway, we started in grey drizzle, fully togged up in our waterproofs. After negotiating the carnage strewn throughout the campsite by a group of school kids staying there, we were on a our way and sweating profusely. The clouds were lifting and the weather was clearing up nicely.
This was a very easy day, only a 6 or 7 mile walk to the DOC campsite at Stony Bay. The wide track hugged the contours of the coastline with fantastic views at every corner. There’s a great lookout after Poley Bay that’s definitely worth the detour. There’s also another track higher up (the mountain bike track) to make a loop back to where you started.
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