Easter at Coromandel
New Zealand had four days off for the Easter long weekend; schools and universities had five, giving us plenty of time to begin exploring the Coromandel peninsula, directly East of Auckland. It was as much a laid-back retreat as it was time to explore new places. We spent three of those nights with friends at a bach (holiday house) in a village of holiday houses named Matarangi. According to our Lonely Planet travel guide (which we picked up for free at our first Auckland home), Matarangi has a permanent population of 300 which can swell to 7,000 during holiday times. To get there, everyone must drive a single lane highway which bottlenecks at a bridge only one car wide, which cars coming from opposite directions take turns to use.
We made our way to the bach on Friday, leaving before lunch. There was reasonable holiday traffic on the highway, but nothing like getting through Berry or Nowra heading South at Christmas. The total drive was around 3.5 hours, but took us longer as we stopped a few times along the way in search of lunch and to just check things out. Unfortunately one of these stops held our (particularly my) very unpleasant first experience with New Zealand sandflies. Although I'd heard of them, I didn't know much about them, other than assuming they must be quite annoying as insect repellents tout its effectiveness against them. Well. I'll be sure to be more careful in future, after a rest stop at a beach resulted in 30 bites on my legs, back and chest which stung at first, then itched intensely (much worse than mosquito bites) and became rash-y for the rest of the long weekend. James managed to escape with about 3 bites...
The bach itself was simple, with enough beds for 8 or more, though James and I 'roughed it' in the van as our friends were lovely enough to let us stay for cheaper that way. It was nice to have the van, then just pop in to use the kitchen, bathroom, or hang out in the living room. The beach was a 5-minute walk away, and I think it is one of our favourite beaches that we've visited in New Zealand so far. The photo at the top of this page was taken there the first evening we arrived, after a mandatory dip. The sand was fine and soft, there was plenty of space, the waves were good to body surf (but not too rough), and there were always lots of dogs running around to keep me entertained.
Altogether there were 9 of us staying together at the bach, and it was a good time hanging out, visiting beaches, throwing frisbees and eating good food. Each of us were put in charge of organising two meals during the trip, so we were treated to some awesome breakfasts and dinners (maple-pecan baked french toast was my personal highlight) while James and I were on lunch duty. On Sunday we decided we would check out New Chums Beach, which is supposed to be in the top ten of New Zealand beaches, but is somehow also apparently a 'secret gem'. A fifteen minute drive brought us to Whangapoua, a small town. We parked at the north end of the beach, which runs the whole length of the town. The carpark was very full, which had us questioning the secretiveness of New Chums. From there it was only a walk down to the busy main beach, across the estuary and a 30 minute walk across rocks and through pretty bush. We came out to a long white sand beach with the bush growing all the way up to the sand, one end enclosed by a tall, jagged cliff, the edges dotted with a couple of rocky islands. On a clear day it would be stunning, but that Sunday was helplessly overcast and the water was dense with a fine red seaweed which tinged the water an odd reddish-brown and got trapped inside your swimmers to find later when you showered.
All-in-all not our favourite beach, but we had a good time nevertheless, swimming, eating our picnic lunches, throwing and playing frisbee games, and just lazing around. One couple in our group brought their puppy for the weekend, which provided continual entertainment to almost every activity.
On Monday it was time to depart, so after a big tidy up and a final swim at the Matarangi beach, we parted with our friends and set off toward Hahei, the gateway to both Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. Although it looks quite close on the map, it was an hour's drive to get around Mercury Bay and the adjoining Whitianga Harbour. It was a scenic drive through ranges, beaches and farms, and there were a few places to stop along the way.
Cathedral Cove (Te Whanganui-A-Hei, pictured above) is an incredible cave linking two coves together. It is extremely popular with tourists and can be reached by a 70 minute walk from Hahei beach, or a 45 minute walk from the purpose-built carpark. We drove to the carpark initially to check it out. Jam-packed, and there were signs in the driveways of nearby homes advertising "\$10 parking, cash only." No, thanks. We decided to head down to the town of Hahei to see the local beach, and if there was an alternate route to the cove. After a busy weekend and a few hours of traveling, we were quite tired by mid-afternoon and not very tempted by the idea of huge crowds, but down on Hahei beach we found the stairs leading to the Cathedral Cove track. "Why not?" we decided, and headed off. The walk itself was worth it, well-maintained and through interesting bush with great ocean views every now and then. We passed many other visitors both coming and going, which further reduced our interest in the tourist spectacle. However, when we climbed down the steep stairs and walked out from under the trees, we were not disappointed to be greeted with white faces of stone on either side of the cove, a rock island in the water and a truly massive triangular cave perfectly framing a tall white outcrop known as Te Hoho Rock.
Yes, there were many other people walking around and marveling at the view, but it was easy to ignore them as you stepped through the cave, dwarfed by its height and width towards the bright other end. Despite the crowds I couldn't help but feel like I was uncovering a secret.
After returning to the car, we found a quiet place next to the beach to have a simple dinner, and relaxed until we thought the Cathedral Cove Carpark had emptied out a little. The carpark doubles as a place campervans can stay overnight for free, which meant we had a nice view and a toilet and saved a little in the process. We were rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise (see photo at the bottom of this page), but managed to lock ourselves out of the van... That brought us to Tuesday, the last day of our long, long weekend. Before we headed back, we decided we needed to check out Hot Water Beach, since it was only a 10 minute drive from Hahei. Hot Water Beach is one of a few locations in New Zealand where you can dig in the sand and lounge in seawater heated by geothermal hot springs below. Friends had told us that it can get extremely busy, the area you can actually dig for the hot water is quite small, and that it is very dependent on the tide. It was only around 8am though, so we thought it was a safe time to have a look without being swamped. When we arrived, we went down to the lower car park, the main (enormous) car park a little further up. It was a few minutes wander up the beach to the geothermal area, but the beach itself was long and the sea was rough. There were signs upon entering the beach that explained the nature of the hot springs, which also mentioned the dangerous nature of the surf.
The area you could dig for the hot water was tiny, and there were already two groups of people digging who took up the majority of the space. One couple seemed as though they'd been digging at least an hour, their hole was so large, but the water in the hole was only deep enough to reach the ankles. Perhaps they were preparing for the tide to rise higher. In fact, part of the strategy in digging these holes, we were told, is in building a wall of sand to keep the cold sea water out when the waves come in. Overall we decided spending a day at Hot Water Beach would not be very fulfilling, having to find a cramped space to dig a hole, not being able to swim in the ocean, being surrounded by hoardes of people... As we walked back across the sand towards the van, we could swear the wet sand was intermittently warmer and cooler in different spots, and the seawater itself seemed less cold than usual... But who knows, it could've been our imaginations.
Alex
