
Another sunny day greets us as we set off for Coromandel Peninsula. But first, we decide on a stop at a place we’d passed on our way in to Snells Beach. Puhoi is a historic Bohemian settlement according to the sign at the turn off for the road. It is a tiny little place along a small river. It was settled by a group of 83 Bohemians from villages near Pilsen in Bohemia. The offer of free land was what encouraged them to leave their homeland in 1863 and emigrate to New Zealand.

Why is this so fascinating to me? Well, because my grandfather came from Bohemia. He was a farmer and immigrated to America not too long after these people. Under different circumstances, I could have been a Kiwi!

Our route to the town of Cormandel takes us along a
magnificent coastline. Lush green islands dot the water and contrast with the
deep blue of the sea. It is rockier here than any other place we’ve been yet
and it makes the shoreline even more dramatic. Around every turn there seems to
be another breathtaking view. Of course some of the turns are pretty
breathtaking too especially when you are met by a huge logging truck coming the
other way.


Thankfully we arrive just in time for the last train run of the day. The train is narrow gauge and diesel driven and was originally used to bring clay down from the mountainside for use by the artist’s colony that formed there. When the man, Barry Brickell, who originally built the whole thing was running out of money, he began to use it to take tourists up to the top for a view of the surrounding area. Eventually he built a lookout he calls the Eyefull Tower and it affords a panoramic view of the ocean, the peninsula and the surrounding islands.

Coming into town, we had noticed the low tide revealed
several square patterned areas on the exposed beach that were lined evenly.
Obviously an area where something was being farmed. We learned it was mussels
and when we checked out the restaurant suggestion of the engineer, we found it
had mussels on the menu. Ah! A no-brainer. Our dinner of mussels is wonderful.
We order fries to go with it like we did in France. The sauce is lemongrass and
coconut with a slight kick of something—maybe cayenne?
As we eat, we ponder what the long black roping with loops
on it is that is draped across the restaurant. Finally we ask. It is the rope
that is used on the beach for the mussels to attach to and grow. How
appropriate.

No comments:
Post a Comment