Morning Walk and Hot Water Beach

When we woke up on Saturday morning the weather was less than favorable, and we were a bit nervous about what we were in for considering in a few hours we would be going to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove.  We ate breakfast and decided to do a walk, to the lookout that our hostel suggested.  

 

We walked up to this lookout and it was beautiful.  When we got back down we went back to our hostel and got ready to leave.  Coromandel Adventures pick us up and we were on our way for the day.  Coromandel Adventures is a new business and has only been operating for seven weeks.  They were great; we did several things through them throughout the weekend and had a great experience. 

 

On the way to Hot Water Beach we drove over we learned that for two hours on either side of low tide you can dig a hole in part of the sand, in front of a rocky area where hot water oozes up from beneath the surface.  It is like a natural spa pool.  We arrived walked down what seemed to be an almost deserted beach until the middle where all of a sudden it was packed, this was the spot.  Several of us on the tour dug a hole, ran into the ocean and then back to the hot water pool.  Our hole was right by the hottest spring but it was good because we were near the ocean so we had a good mix of hot and cool.  The group we were with for they day was full of fun people so that made it even better. 

   

Then after spending about two hours at Hot Water Beach we headed off to Cathedral Cove.  More about that tomorrow.      

Coromandel

 On Friday right after school on of the other teachers who lives closer to downtown dropped us off for the ferry.  When we got to town we stopped at a camera shop because I am sad to report my camera got wet (or soaked) when I slipped off a rock last weekend at Goat Island and landed in the ocean.  That sounds way worse than it was, don’t worry I am just fine I didn't get hurt, not even a scratch but my camera is now acting very temperamental.  I thought with so much traveling left to do and since I enjoy taking pictures so much not having a camera just would not do for me.  So I bit the bullet and bought a new camera, it is the same as my old one except several years and models newer.  And now I am happy to report after the weekend I am really enjoying my new camera and all of its fun features!  

 

After the camera shop we got on the ferry and started our two-hour journey to Coromandel.  The weather was not the best so neither was the ride and several people didn’t look so well when we finally arrived.  I thought it was a bit like going on the tummy ticklers up north.  

We arrived and Sonny picked everyone up, and took us to our accommodation at Anchor Lodge.  We checked in, walked around the town a bit.  We noticed that Anchor Lodge had a lot of time and sign problems.  You can see one example here of what we mean.  And signs like these were several feet apart and these were not the only ones.  Coromandel Town is just a small town that has kept its heritage buildings.  We saw a lot of cute little shops that we made note of visiting the following morning.  

Then we went to bed to prepare for an exciting Saturday.  More soon about Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove!  But alas now I need to get to sleep.     

 

Goat Island Marine Reserve

On Sunday Storm and Sarah took Laura and I to Goat Island.  It was a great day with sunny hot weather!!!  This was New Zealand’s first marine reserve established 1975.  This is a small island very close to the shore (you can swim to it).  The reason most people go to this area is because the water is so incredibly clear and you can scuba dive and snorkel directly from the beach.  On the drive to the island we went through a tunnel and saw these public toilets in a little town we drove through.    

When we got there we parked, took some pictures, from above and then headed to the beach to claim a spot.  I went to test the water and I decided that it wasn’t too bad.  Laura tested the water and said it was unbearable, so she rented a wetsuit.  

Then we ate lunch, walked around a bit, and hit the water.  It was cold at first but once you were in it wasn’t bad.  The water was as clear as they said.  It was so cool because there were lots of different colors of corals and sponges.  We saw a lot of different fish, and we even got to see a manta ray.  I still hadn’t received the camera case that I ordered so you will just have to take my word on this one but it was amazing!!!!

After snorkeling for nearly an hour we headed back to shore to dry off.  With the last bit of time we had at the beach we walked the other way.  The coastline was very neat because it was a huge cliff, a skinny beach, and then they water.  We also got to see these birds, and on the way back the ones with the orange beak attacked us.  We ended that day with an ice cream and headed home.  

     

Waiheke Island

This weekend we went to Waiheke Island and spent time going from beach to beach collecting sand and looking for shells.  We got on the ferry bright and early at 8am on Saturday morning and were off to Waiheke.  When we got there we walked from Kennedy Point almost all the way to town but caught a bus.  Almost the first thing we saw when we got to Waiheke was this sign and we thought it was so clever.  We then spent the day hopping from one bus to another to get to the different beaches that I wanted to see. 

The first one we went to was Onetangi Beach, this was the farthest from the city but it was so beautiful.  We walked along the beach I collected some sand as well as some pretty cool shells, there were heaps of these small spiral ones everywhere.   It was a nice day for walking on the beach because the wind was cool, but it was still mostly sunny!

  

We thought maybe this was a treasure map but it was only an old piece of paper with nothing on it!

Then we got on the bus and tried to get to Palm Beach but the driver had other ideas you could say.  One of the stops before Palm Beach was Rocky Point and when we arrived the bus driver announced where we were.  Several people got off but several of us didn’t move because this was not where we wanted to be.  The bus driver then looked in the mirror and said Rocky Point again.  Laura shook her head no and then again the bus driver said Rocky Point.  This time the guy sitting behind us spoke up and said, “No mate we want to go to Palm Beach not here!”  The bus driver told us that Rocky Point was the end of the line and another bus would come through in about 30 minutes and that driver could take us to Palm Beach.  We all looked at each other and hopped off the bus to see what was at Rocky Point because we now had 30 minutes to kill. 

Well luckily there was a little trail and it went out to this small peninsula that turned out to be pretty cool.  But when we got back to the bus stop we waited for the next bus to come I was looking around and noticed that the bus we were on never left, and a few minutes later the SAME driver started the bus up and drove to the stop and said, “Palm Beach?”  We were all so confused but we hopped on and off we went.  I guess he must have needed a break. 

So we eventually made it to Palm Beach and it was another great beach to walk on, climb the rocks, and spend some time.  We found more seashells and there were kids running and playing in the water. 

From there we meant to go to a winery because that is what Coromandel is known for.  We had plenty of time before the ferry was going to take us back to town but we got into this van with a shuttle driver.  He was something, that is about all I can say about his personality and his name was Max.  He lives on Waiheke and drives around picking people up and taking them where they want to go.  We got in and he asked where we were from, we told him the United States, and all of a sudden he was going on and on about the United States.   

Turns out he lived in Rhode Island, and went to grad school there.  Then he asked us what state we were from and when we told him Wisconsin, he replied, "Oh yes I have spent a lot of time in Wausau, WI."  I was so amazed because I couldn’t believe that he would have been to Wausau.  He asked us if we knew what Wausau was world famous for and after sometime thinking and knowing that it couldn’t be the Badger State Games, I came up with kayaking.  I was right, the reason he has spent so much time in Wausau is because his son is a huge Kayaker.  So much so that he was in the last Olympics and Max has been to Wausau to support his son in the World Cup Races, held downtown.   

On our journey with Max he did take us to a lookout above Palm Beach and let some people off there and dropped others off several other places so we did never make it to a winery but we did meet someone named Max who has been to Wausau. 

 

Max also rated us on a paranoid scale, something he does with all the people he drives around.  He told us that most Americans score above average on a scale of 1 to 10 at about a 7 or 8.  We also learned that Australians generally score the lowest of all visitors, and he thinks this is because criminals founded Australia and they invented the saying “No Worries Mate!”  Anyways we scored a 2, so I guess we are not very paranoid, and I think that is a good thing!