weekend at the beach
Jan. 6th, 2009 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanarama Over the weekend we went to the Coromandel Peninsula (the sort of thumb that sticks up north east of Auckland) which was, as those of you who suggested it to me, incredibly amazingly beautiful (steep mountains in the middle, beaches along the edges) but perhaps it was a strategic error to go during the weekend after New Year's. Especially since it's reached by a friggin' one lane bridge at which we waited 50 minutes.
Then it was several hours of slow driving on twisty narrow roads with spectacular views (which sometimes got narrower, such that the dotted line down the middle disappeared) up the west coast of the peninsula until we reached Coromandel Town, where we amazingly found a motel just before it started to pour down rain on us. In the morning we walked along a nice little track where they had been planting kauri trees, to the center of town where we had the worst meal so far in NZ, a really pathetic breakfast, then drove across to the east side (more twisty narrow roads with spectacular views) where we strolled around Whitianga, kind of the NZ answer to Key West except with mountains.
We walked through the marina looking at sailboats, walked out on the ferry pier (the harbor necks down to a tiny channel that is crossed by a passenger ferry), looked around town a little, then had lunch (at a restaurant called Squids!! \o/ ) which totally canceled out the terrible breakfast - seafood chowder with local fish and mussels and yes, there were tentacles in there, too. Mmmm good.
From there we drove to Hahei, which is amazing for its near-total lack of commercial development - it's a tiny town - but it has a very nice and popular beach. There are several even nicer beaches which you can only get to by hiking some 45 minutes (up and down cliffs! But there are stairways and paths) so we did. Cathedral Cove is really stunning, with this HUGE arch - a tunnel, really - and these rocks and islands offshore that are so very pretty. (Yeah, we have photos, maybe I will be able to post some soon!)
We secured a campsite a bit out of town, then returned for a good restaurant meal at which we ate the local shellfish, a small but meaty abalone called paua, which was very tasty, and a "pizza" which was alas not what we Americans think of as pizza. But once I got over the novelty of carrots and zucchini on my pizza (as well as a very doughy crust) it wasn't bad.
Then! We did what tourists to Hahei come for: the DIY hot tub. See, there's this place called Hot Water Beach which has hot "springs" (actually, hot gas vents) under the sand, and for a couple hours either side of low tide, one can dig a hole in the sand and make a sort of soaking pool. Local businesses rent shovels, and our campground had them for free with deposit, so we took our spade and joined, oh, 50 or so others who had come for the evening low tide. It was insane, social in a weird sort of way, and very fun. Lots of knots of people excavating and building fortifications against the tide. We hooked up with a guy from Wellington and an American couple in a very nice spot, lots of hot bits that you couldn't even put your hand on for very long, and we soaked and got sand in our swimsuits and chatted until the tide swept away our sand walls one too many times and we had to bow to the inevitable.
The next morning we poked our way farther south down the coast and then headed back across the peninsula, stopping at Karangahake Gorge which was a big gold-mining area in the late 1890s and early 1900s. A railway was built to transport the gold, including some remarkable railway tunnels; now it's a rail-trail for tourists, and we walked through the train tunnels and mine tunnels and across swinging bridges and through the jungle and around old decayed mine buildings, sort of Indiana Jones-y and very nifty.
ETA: Coromandel photos
We returned to Devonport long enough to clean the house, pack our things, and have dinner with another former Durango couple we knew in the Auckland area, and then this morning caught a flight to Wellington. Where we are now, at Chez![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meesto & trickofthedark. We will spend four days here and then take the ferry to the South Island for the next phase of the adventure!
Then it was several hours of slow driving on twisty narrow roads with spectacular views (which sometimes got narrower, such that the dotted line down the middle disappeared) up the west coast of the peninsula until we reached Coromandel Town, where we amazingly found a motel just before it started to pour down rain on us. In the morning we walked along a nice little track where they had been planting kauri trees, to the center of town where we had the worst meal so far in NZ, a really pathetic breakfast, then drove across to the east side (more twisty narrow roads with spectacular views) where we strolled around Whitianga, kind of the NZ answer to Key West except with mountains.
We walked through the marina looking at sailboats, walked out on the ferry pier (the harbor necks down to a tiny channel that is crossed by a passenger ferry), looked around town a little, then had lunch (at a restaurant called Squids!! \o/ ) which totally canceled out the terrible breakfast - seafood chowder with local fish and mussels and yes, there were tentacles in there, too. Mmmm good.
From there we drove to Hahei, which is amazing for its near-total lack of commercial development - it's a tiny town - but it has a very nice and popular beach. There are several even nicer beaches which you can only get to by hiking some 45 minutes (up and down cliffs! But there are stairways and paths) so we did. Cathedral Cove is really stunning, with this HUGE arch - a tunnel, really - and these rocks and islands offshore that are so very pretty. (Yeah, we have photos, maybe I will be able to post some soon!)
We secured a campsite a bit out of town, then returned for a good restaurant meal at which we ate the local shellfish, a small but meaty abalone called paua, which was very tasty, and a "pizza" which was alas not what we Americans think of as pizza. But once I got over the novelty of carrots and zucchini on my pizza (as well as a very doughy crust) it wasn't bad.
Then! We did what tourists to Hahei come for: the DIY hot tub. See, there's this place called Hot Water Beach which has hot "springs" (actually, hot gas vents) under the sand, and for a couple hours either side of low tide, one can dig a hole in the sand and make a sort of soaking pool. Local businesses rent shovels, and our campground had them for free with deposit, so we took our spade and joined, oh, 50 or so others who had come for the evening low tide. It was insane, social in a weird sort of way, and very fun. Lots of knots of people excavating and building fortifications against the tide. We hooked up with a guy from Wellington and an American couple in a very nice spot, lots of hot bits that you couldn't even put your hand on for very long, and we soaked and got sand in our swimsuits and chatted until the tide swept away our sand walls one too many times and we had to bow to the inevitable.
The next morning we poked our way farther south down the coast and then headed back across the peninsula, stopping at Karangahake Gorge which was a big gold-mining area in the late 1890s and early 1900s. A railway was built to transport the gold, including some remarkable railway tunnels; now it's a rail-trail for tourists, and we walked through the train tunnels and mine tunnels and across swinging bridges and through the jungle and around old decayed mine buildings, sort of Indiana Jones-y and very nifty.
ETA: Coromandel photos
We returned to Devonport long enough to clean the house, pack our things, and have dinner with another former Durango couple we knew in the Auckland area, and then this morning caught a flight to Wellington. Where we are now, at Chez
meesto & trickofthedark. We will spend four days here and then take the ferry to the South Island for the next phase of the adventure!![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 09:48 am (UTC)Speaking of which, the DIY hot tubs are awesome. That's definitely begging for a story.... [ponder]
Angie
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 10:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 10:11 am (UTC)Angie
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 09:50 am (UTC)Give me a call tomorrow sometime?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 10:10 am (UTC)Will do!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 04:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 06:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 07:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 09:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 12:41 am (UTC)Did you have anything enjoyable to drink, alcohol-wise,
while soaking?
I'm green with envy! :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 09:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 06:01 pm (UTC)I wonder how many BJCP certified judges they have?
I should fly down sometime and help them out sometime!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 12:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-08 09:29 pm (UTC)