By mtumasz
Kia Ora Mates! Once again I will say, New Zealand is amazing, breathtaking, every awesome adjective you can think of. It's crazy to think that I have mid-semester break in a week, and that I'll be taking midterms soon; it feels like I just got here!
Last weekend, my friends and I all rented a minivan and drove Northeast of Auckland, to the Coromandel Peninsula. Absolutely gorgeous beaches, nice waterfalls, and heaps of hikes to do. My favorite part of the weekend trip wasn't any of this though; it was the drive back to Auckland.
We decided to take a slightly longer drive back to the city, following the coast almost all the way back. It was crazy to be driving on the road, and have cliffs and beaches literally right on the other side of the road rails. We ended up stopping every twenty minutes or so to get out and take pictures from the side of the road. As we were heading back, we were able to stop on a beach and watch the sunset, a perfect ending to an amazing weekend.
So my advice to travelers is if there are signs or maps for scenic drives/highways, definitely do it, even though it takes a little longer. It was totally worth it for us, and it was a nice change from the boring highways.
Cheers!