Good-Bye New Zealand :'-(

We spent the last couple days beachside in Kuaotunu, a teeny less-than-a-town on the Coromandel Peninsula. I'm guessing this is the kind of place that Kiwis go on vacation. Our cottage was unique in that it was solar powered and built somewhat eco-friendly with bamboo and cork flooring. We were right across the road from a beautiful and deserted beach with some really great waves for the boogie boards. We had the whole beach to ourselves, which was a little odd, but that's the nice part about travelling in the off season.

Not a good pic of our beach. It did get sunny!

We celebrated Bill's birthday there by going to a really great craft brewery/bistro in Whitianga, the big town down the road. The owner was an exceptionally friendly British guy who brewed the beer and his wife made the food. Both were excellent. The next day we ventured down the coast to Hot Water Beach. There are really hot springs under the beach at low tide. People go, dig a hole, let it fill with spring water, and chill-out until the tide comes in. So, off we went just before low tide to claim our spot. The beach was already crowded with people frantically shovelling away, and some already in their holes. We set Bill to digging right among the other people, but the water filling our hole was definitely NOT hot. I asked several of our neighbours if THEIR water was hot, and they all said, "No!" And yet they kept digging.

We decided to move to another area, and the same thing happened. There was no hot water, and yet these people kept on digging! By this time the boys had started playing in the waves though very shallow because the rip tide was super strong. I wandered about asking the diggers if they had struck hot water. None had. Eventually I found a British man who said, "I know where it is. I'll show you." So, I followed him out into the surf and whaddya know? Hot springs! I mean scorching, boiling-hot hot springs! I'm not sure if the tide table was off, or if the waves were just too big, but the tide was most definitely not low enough to dig a hole on the low tide beach and sit in it. So, the Reid family plopped ourselves down in a couple inches of surf and got hot from the bottom while cooling off with the surf from above: a weird sensation to say the least, but pleasant too. As the surf returned to the ocean and we got jostled about, the spring, at times, would have us jumping off our bums or throwing our hands or feet out of the water. I'm sure we looked pretty comical to all those on shore, but I thought they looked far more foolish for sitting in a not-hot water bath when everyone knew they weren't in hot water, or even worse, continuing to dig their holes in futility!

 

From the Hot Water Beach we went further up shore towards the Cathedral Cove. I didn't take my ipad because we were planning on snorkelling and leaving our stuff unattended, so I have no photos of my own. From the parking area their was a track that led us to some snorkelling areas, Gemstone Bay and Stingray Bay, before reaching Cathedral Cove. The snorkelling was a bit of a bust -- just a few fish and a lot of seaweed. It was worth a shot. Cathedral Cove, however, was pretty cool. It served as a setting in a couple of the Narnia movies and a Macklemore video. There is a massive natural tunnel through a big limestone prominence. A beach passes through the tunnel and continues on either side. The beaches were quite beautiful and we did some body surfing in the big waves. Good practice for Australia! It was one of our best days.

Narnia Cathedral Cove shot

 

The next morning, yesterday, was overcast, so it was easy to say goodbye to the beach. We drove to Auckland and found our accommodation, City Lodge, without any trouble. Best of all, Brody's tablet had arrived from Hastings. Phew! Thank you NZ Postal service. Jack and I set off to go souvenir hunting. There was a shirt he saw in Queenstown that he had been looking for everywhere since, but still no luck. I may have to order it online. We did purchase a spiffy All Blacks jersey for Bill for his birthday. We decided he is worth the extravagance. And it looks great on him. Otherwise, Sammy, I hope you're reading this, because you're the only family member getting a NZ souvenir. You know when you look at the same stuff over and over it just starts to look like junk? That's how I feel about most of the NZ souvenirs. Others are quite beautiful, but unless you've been here and have grown quite fond of the native plants and birds, I don't think you would appreciate it. Yes, I could have spent lots on myself, but didn't.

Had to go outside to change our minds! Ba-dum-dum

Back at our accommodation we made a great last NZ dinner (curry, mmmm) and chatted with some of the other travellers. A nice man from Tuatara offered us some ceviche that he made with a big trout he caught himself. It had a lime and coconut cream sauce with lots of veggies. Quite tasty. As Bill and Jack cleaned up, Brody and I did a little "dumpster diving" in the donations bin and scored some 'new' stuff for Australia: beach blankets, beach towels, shirts, scissors. Great score. Back in our tiniest room ever (but with an ensuite, a nice bonus) I discovered that City Lodge is in fact a YMCA. So yes, it is indeed fun to stay there and I hung out with all my boys.

And now, here I sit on the airplane about to touch down in Mebourne. From there we will continue on to Adelaide to begin our Aussie adventure. Stay tuned for some final thoughts on New Zealand.