Next on our New Zealand hit list was visiting the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s a pretty long drive down from Paihia, and there were several road closures following on from the cyclone causing further delays, so we decided to split the journey in half and spend a night in Orewa just north of Auckland.
We had a bit of time after dinner to explore the beach, and because it had been chucking it down while we enjoyed our sushi, we were treated to a fairly epic complete rainbow while we sauntered along the sand.
We had also been told by our Airbnb hosts that the local Eaves Reserve bush walk would play host to an impressive glow worm display after sundown. After a good half an hour of suspiciously hanging around at the entrance waiting for the daylight to finally disappear, we managed to spot a fair few of the little guys as darkness fell, before the attacking hordes of mosquitos became too much to bear and we made a run for it back to the safety of our accommodation.
The next day we finally made it to our home for the next week, the aptly named Hot Water Beach. I say aptly named because there is a geothermal spring underneath a specific section of this beach which makes its way through an underground fissure and up through the sand. For a few hours either side of low tide you can find groups of people frantically digging holes in the sand which then fill up with thermal water creating your very own hot tub. Pretty cool, and we were looking forward to trying it out the following day.
Unfortunately, the following day arrived, and it was absolutely hammering it down. We decided it would be a good idea to get ahead on a bit of schooling while we waited out the rain. Cue a double Monday morning home-school session. When we’d all just about had a gutful of comprehension and column addition, we went for a bit of lunch and a walk along a local beach. The rain looked like it had finally decided to leave us alone for the day, and we were rapidly approaching the tide window for Hot Water Beach, so we hot-footed (pun intended) our way back to get ourselves ready.
Dressed in our swimmers, and armed with three rusty old shovels and a bucket courtesy of our Airbnb, we sauntered on down to the beach to see the madness with our own eyes. Sure enough there was a hive of activity occurring a hundred yards down the sand.
We were keen to get digging, so after circling the area like predators at a watering hole, we pounced on what looked like a good spot. You’ve gotta be pretty careful where you dig though, this water is pretty hot, reaching 64 degrees in certain places. There were constant yelps as people dipped their toes in the wrong spots. It’s even possible to burn your feet when the spring is completely covered by the sea at high tide, as Hunter and I found out while swimming one day!
It’s a pretty hilarious scene as the area in which you can create your own personal spa is fairly small, and people are frantically digging all around trying to create a pool with the perfect temperature. As the tide turns and the beachfront shrinks in size, there’s also the inevitable frenzy as the cold sea breaches the sand barriers people have created on their frontline baths and everyone retreats back towards the cliffs. Every so often a larger than expected wave also creeps so far up the beach that it manages to claim several shoes or perhaps a bucket from the (not so safe) safety of the rocks at the back of the beach. All in all, it’s a fairly bizarre, slightly frenetic, yet highly enjoyable experience. But don’t expect it to be too relaxing!
One of the most famous beaches on the Coromandel is Cathedral Cove. In fact this is apparently one of the ‘must see’ sites when visiting New Zealand, having been made famous after appearing in one of the Narnia films. Normally this picture-perfect beach is accessible via an easy 40 minute walk from the neighbouring cove, or by boat transfer. However, typically, during our visit it was not accessible at all! Due to the recent cyclone causing several huge landslides both on the beach itself and the access path, there was currently no legal or safe way of accessing it. You can still view it from the water though, so on Tuesday we drove to Whitianga harbour to jump on the Glass Bottom Boat for a tour around the local coastline, and a view of the ocean floor below. Again, our timing was pretty rubbish. The seas were also still recovering from the storm, and visibility under the water was pretty awful due to the sheer amount of silty run-off from the rivers which were laden with the results of hundreds of landslides.
I mean, we could see a few fish here and there, but you couldn’t see the rocky reefs below. We did get a chance to have a quick swim, and a decent view of Cathedral Cove from the water, so I guess it wasn’t a total bust!
There was a pair of young Irish lads on the boat with us, and I think they might have been enjoying the Craic a bit too much prior to boarding. I’ve spoken before about the importance of never missing an opportunity to use a toilet when travelling with young kids, but I guess this lesson also extends to people who drink copious amounts of beer for breakfast. You could see the panic starting to build in his facial contortions as he began to squirm uncontrollably in his seat. Eventually the poor lad couldn’t take it any more, and what’s the only solution when you need a wee at the seaside? You go in the water right! This was the point where he had to sheepishly shimmy backwards down the tiny ladder at the back of the intimately sized boat, and proceed to relieve himself while half submerged and awkwardly avoiding eye contact with his friends and, indeed, the rest of us as we tried (in vain) to stifle our laughter.
The next morning we were half way through school when there was a knock on the door. Sandy, our host for the week, wondered if we’d like to feed the resident eels. I didn’t know much about New Zealand Longfin eels, but what I did know was that there was a hand written note on the fridge, left by Sandy’s other half Warren, warning not to go in the stream if you wanted to keep all your fingers and toes. Right kids, break-time! Off we all trotted down to the stream, with Sandy’s deaf Jack Russell, Jock, in hot pursuit. The eels eat dog food you see, and Jock may be old and deaf, but he’s obviously no fool. He knows he’ll get a bit of that dog food if he hangs around, looking hungry.
These were some really massive eels! I’ve caught eels before in my childhood, about an inch in diameter maybe, and a foot or two long. But the biggest of these things were three or four feet long, and over three inches across. The oldest and biggest female in the stream was probably knocking on for 100 years old according to Warren, and weighed around 30 pounds. Weirdly, these eels live incredibly long lives in freshwater streams, then reach sexual maturity at the end of their lives before returning to the open seas. Every eel makes the journey all the way back to their birthplace in Tonga, where they lay their eggs and finally die.
After our impromptu biology lesson on the life cycle of eels, we finished school and headed off for an afternoon on the beach. That evening we were planning on checking out a night-time Stargazing experience in Kuaotunu, so a day on the local beach up that way seemed like a good plan.
We made a brief stop at the Wilderland Organic shop to check out their Manuka honey products. This organic farm is basically a hippy commune (in the words of the volunteer behind the counter) in the truest sense. It is an organic farm which, since 1964, has produced honey and organic produce to fund their existence in the hills of the Coromandel. They had some pretty good stuff, and we came away with some great Manuka, tasty syrups and organic avocados.
Five minutes down the road we came across a hitch-hiker. I haven’t seen a hitch hiker for decades. It used to be fairly commonplace in the UK when I was young, but it’s just not deemed to be safe anymore I guess. I drove past at first, not realising she needed a lift. We quickly decided we had enough space in the back with the kids, so I pulled a quick u-turn and headed back to help her out.
Luckily, we were heading to the same town (there really aren’t that many places to go round here!), so Sarah jumped on in. She explained that it was still safe and reasonably common here, in fact she hitched into town all the time as she didn’t own a car. And why not, as long as you have your wits about you it seems like a no-brainer.
After spending the afternoon lounging about on Kuaotunu beach, collecting shells and climbing rocks, we had a quick fish and chip dinner and headed for Stargazers BnB for our night sky tour. The entire day had been absolutely glorious, with blazing sunshine and bright blue skies. Not a cloud in the sky all day long. But for some reason, from around 8pm as the light was fading, the clouds began rolling in over the hills. By the time we reached our destination there was not one star visible in the sky, and we unfortunately had to make our way home again. Ah well, maybe the following night would be better.
Thursday was another day of fun down on Hot Water Beach, followed by lunch at Hotties beach bar, before returning and finishing off our schoolwork for the week in the afternoon. That evening we were once again going to try and have our astronomy lesson at Stargazers. Once again the sun had been shining relentlessly all day long, and as we left home at 8pm there was still not a cloud in the sky.
We arrived just after darkness fell, and met our host for the evening, Alistair, at his purpose built observatory on a deck above his bed and breakfast in Kuaotunu. The skies were clear enough, and after meeting the other guests who were staying at Stargazers, we quickly embarked on our nocturnal tour of the heavens.
Alistair was a perfectly charming and extremely knowledgeable man who has made a career as a geologist as well as a bed and breakfast entrepreneur. We were treated to a laser pointer presentation of the night sky, as well as several trips into his observatory to gaze through his computer guided telescope. The kids were absolutely transfixed as Alistair disseminated his lifetime of astral knowledge, all while being treated to hot mugs of tea and homemade biscuits. We were treated to an appearance by the international space station, as well as a stream of at least 30 of Elon Musk’s latest troop of Starlink satellites. Through his telescope we were given close up views of many faraway celestial bodies, as well as our own moon.
As the encroaching clouds finally ruined any remaining views of the sky, we retreated to his office for a few entertaining hands-on experiments involving plasma balls and lightbulbs, as well as a tour of his personal mineral collection and more facts and figures about our own solar system. We finally left at about 11:30pm, although I think the kids would have stayed all night long if they’d been allowed!
I couldn’t recommend this more if you are at all interested in the vast, unfathomable nature of our universe. The kids couldn’t get enough of it, and Alistair’s engaging manner even saw them leaving enthusiastically with homework! It was a brilliant evening, and something very different for us all.
Check out the next instalment for more fun and games, as well as some hair-raising moments on the Coromandel peninsula…