Winter 2017

The promise of sleepy beach towns, pristine and secluded beaches, geothermal features, and misty rainforests drew us to visit The Coromandel Peninsula (The Coro, for short) toward the end of our latest visit to New Zealand. The Coro is located on the North Island, an hour and a half drive or a ferry ride east across the Firth of Thames of Auckland, yet it is a world away from the hustle and bustle of the country’s largest city. With no agenda and a limited list of places we had to see, we kept our two days planned for the area open to exploring anything that caught our fancy.

A year ago, I flew to Merida, Yucatan in Mexico to visit Progresso. For this 7-day trip, I rented a car and visited Progresso and Merida. As I was driving around and seeing the different areas, I determined the area to be an awesome destination just to explore and see Mayan ruins, cenotes (fresh water caverns), and everything this place offers. After my week in the Yucatan, I started considering the different options I had from shipping my vehicle to driving it to the Yucatan. I came across a blog where a family from San Antonio did the same trip. I carefully read their story and made the decision to pursue this adventure.

I have been very fortunate in the number of truly amazing natural wonders I have visited: Mauna Kea, Maze Overlook, The Doll House, Copper Canyon, The White Pockets, and Bisti. There are many other scenic destinations I have yet to see, and in some cases, maybe I’ve waited too late. 

As a contributor of this fair publication I get to see, and even sometimes drive, some very special off-roading creations...so it's not that often that I get stopped in my tracks by a Land Cruiser. It was only an hour after my first coffee so admittedly my mental faculties are not at their most trustworthy at this time of day, but  several of my senses worked together to convince me that what I was seeing was real. Land Rover have their 127 and 130 crew cab pickups but Toyota doesn't have an equivalent, at least, I didn't think so... but here on the streets of a little village in Brazil, was what looked like a double-cab 40 series driving towards me. Full of people in the back they were obviously going on some kind of off-road safari! The driver mistook my bewilderment in his car for interest in a tour and handed me a leaflet. A phone call later and we arranged to go on a trip in the surrounding jungle the next day. Easy.