Coromandel Pictures, Part 1
On the way to Cathedral Cove from Hahei. Waiting for a car to give us a ride, not realising five minutes drive from there is as close to Cathedral Cove you can get by car, the rest is by foot.
The Hot Water Beach on the East Coast of Coromandel. Water up to 65 degrees Celcius, all you have to do is to dig a hole in the sand and enjoy the heat. Wonderful!
Playing pool at the local bar in Tapu. I won!
Rainforest as far as you can see. Doesn't get much better. Hiked for 1,5 hours with that view.
Peeping out of the tent in the morning to see a beach is wonderful!
The locals loved to see some fresh blood in Tapu. Very nice peple!
I am looking fancy with my hitch hiker's sign, prepared for standing in the rain for how long it might taketo catch a ride. Turned out to be 35 minutes.
Waterfall by the Cathedral Cove. It was just great to was my hair and face in it. Cold, but refreshing.
The Hitch Hiker's Guide To Coromandel
Hey!
Guess what I've been doing this weekend, haha! Mario (a German friend who also lives at WSA) and I were talking about getting out of Auckland the cheapest way possible. Neither of us had been to Coromandel, so we decided to hitch hike there for the weekend. We started off on highway 1 from Auckland down south at 2.15 pm. 30 minutes laer we got picked up by 3 Maori girls. They were absolutely INSANE, but very nice. However, no matter how nice someone may be, it doesn't change the fact that we were terrified about the driving. Not only did I spend 3 hours (or 4?) staring at the road waiting to die in a car crash, I was stuck there without a seatbelt!!
Regardless, we got dropped off in Hamilton, which is way down south, about and hour drive too far. It was the smallest community, and yet we didn't have to wit for more than 10 minutes until we were picked up by a very nice kiw couple who wer gong to Tapu, same as us. At last we could relax and lay back in the carseat. They were very nice and chatty, an dropped us of in Tapu, a small village as well.
First thing we did there was to go to the local bar, only place open at the time, 9 pm I'm guessing. All the locals wanted to talk to us, buy us beer & shots and play pool. They were all so nice to us, and curious aout what brought us there. We left when the bar closed at 11 pm and went to find a plac to camp for the night. As sundown is at 8.15ish, it was pitch dark. We found a beach in a nearby town called Te Mata. We managed to get the tent up pretty properly, hoping that no locals would chase us out of there for whatever reason there might have been. The morning after, a local came up to us in the tent just after we woke up. "Bummer" is what we thought, preparing for being yelled at.
He turned out to be a very nice, older gentleman who's got relatives in Sweden, and been there himself a couple of months and really loved it. We were chatting for a while, till he walked on and we packed our stuff to move on to the Watergardens in Rapaura, 6.5 km from Tapu.
We walked for ten minutes or so until a local stopped by and gave us a ride there. The Watergardens was so amazing! We fed ducks, walked around in the gardens and enjoyed the waterarrangements and the plants, butthe best of all was the waterfall! We stayed by the waterfall for quite a while, enjoyed the view and talked about how great life is! After we were finished there we stopped by a stream a couple of hundred metres away to make some lunch. We brought equipment to cook food, so we had pasta with tomato and herb sauce, wonderful! I also manaed to wash my hair and face there which was amazing, the water is so clean and pure!
Now the thing is, the road we were walking on is very dead, few people drive there. We walked for 1,5 hours with the most astonishing view of mountains covered in rain forest and singing "Tribute" by Tenacious D, until we came to Te Kauri, which is a giant tree. During the 1,5 hours we hiked up there, not a single car driving in the right direction passed by, by as we were up by the tree the first car heading from Tapu came driving on the road. Fortunatley for us, they stopped to have a look at the tree as well and were heading to Hot Water Beach, so we tagged along.
Hot water beach was rather cool. Basically, there are two points on the beach where hot water is coming up, you just have to dig a hole and lie down there, it's like enoying a hot bath but much more comfortable, oceanview and lots of tourists. We hung out there for a while, then managed to get to Hahei with a German couple.
As we arrived in Hahei, we went straight to the beach to find a suitable location for our tent. Once again it was pitch dark and we could only see what our torch allowed us to see. It was storming, the ocean was raging and for a while I thought the wind would blow the tent away, but after a while we were inside, safe from the storm and the rain. The ocean was roaring all night, a great sound to fall asleep to!
This morning Mario woke me up with a coffee. Apparently he tried to wake me up several times, but I kept hiding under my sleeping bag so he gave up and went to get some of this magic beverage. As I looked out of the tent I was greeted by the most amazing view, very similar to Bay of Islands. A rather empty beach, lots of islands and great waves.
Even though it's been raining in Auckland all day, we were hanging out on Hahei Beach for a couple of hours playing with my rugby ball, enjong the water and chatting to locals. Does it get much better? We kept telling each other how great life is and oh, if only we could do this every weekend.. After a while we packed our shit an heade for Cathedral Cove which is a top destination on the North Island.
We thought it would be an hour walk there so we got a car with two Brazilians and one German. However, after 5 minutes in the car we were there! The rest of the was was hiking, which I just LOVED! The Cathedal Cove is offically closed because of danger (rocks keeps falling down) but we knew this already and wanted to do it anyway. The stairs down there were closed, so we just hiked, holding on to ropes in order not to slip and fall in the mud.
Cathedral Cove just might have been one of the most beautiful, serene, inspiring, wonderful place I've ever been to. There was a waterfall there as well, which I washed my hair in. The beach was great.. There are no words to describe this place with, you'll see later when I put up the pictures! We stayed there for quite a while and enjyed ourselves!
These guys live in Auckland as well, so we though we just might go back with them. We had a second stop at Hot Water Beach where we had fish 'n chips, then we left for Auckland.
So here I am sitting in my bed, still dirty after Cathedral Cove smelling like a road kill. I'm going to take a shower now, then sleep straight away afterwards. I'm off to work tomorrow morning, then I have conflict resolution 4-7
Life's Good!
(pictures will come asap!)
yours sincerely
Guess what I've been doing this weekend, haha! Mario (a German friend who also lives at WSA) and I were talking about getting out of Auckland the cheapest way possible. Neither of us had been to Coromandel, so we decided to hitch hike there for the weekend. We started off on highway 1 from Auckland down south at 2.15 pm. 30 minutes laer we got picked up by 3 Maori girls. They were absolutely INSANE, but very nice. However, no matter how nice someone may be, it doesn't change the fact that we were terrified about the driving. Not only did I spend 3 hours (or 4?) staring at the road waiting to die in a car crash, I was stuck there without a seatbelt!!
Regardless, we got dropped off in Hamilton, which is way down south, about and hour drive too far. It was the smallest community, and yet we didn't have to wit for more than 10 minutes until we were picked up by a very nice kiw couple who wer gong to Tapu, same as us. At last we could relax and lay back in the carseat. They were very nice and chatty, an dropped us of in Tapu, a small village as well.
First thing we did there was to go to the local bar, only place open at the time, 9 pm I'm guessing. All the locals wanted to talk to us, buy us beer & shots and play pool. They were all so nice to us, and curious aout what brought us there. We left when the bar closed at 11 pm and went to find a plac to camp for the night. As sundown is at 8.15ish, it was pitch dark. We found a beach in a nearby town called Te Mata. We managed to get the tent up pretty properly, hoping that no locals would chase us out of there for whatever reason there might have been. The morning after, a local came up to us in the tent just after we woke up. "Bummer" is what we thought, preparing for being yelled at.
He turned out to be a very nice, older gentleman who's got relatives in Sweden, and been there himself a couple of months and really loved it. We were chatting for a while, till he walked on and we packed our stuff to move on to the Watergardens in Rapaura, 6.5 km from Tapu.
We walked for ten minutes or so until a local stopped by and gave us a ride there. The Watergardens was so amazing! We fed ducks, walked around in the gardens and enjoyed the waterarrangements and the plants, butthe best of all was the waterfall! We stayed by the waterfall for quite a while, enjoyed the view and talked about how great life is! After we were finished there we stopped by a stream a couple of hundred metres away to make some lunch. We brought equipment to cook food, so we had pasta with tomato and herb sauce, wonderful! I also manaed to wash my hair and face there which was amazing, the water is so clean and pure!
Now the thing is, the road we were walking on is very dead, few people drive there. We walked for 1,5 hours with the most astonishing view of mountains covered in rain forest and singing "Tribute" by Tenacious D, until we came to Te Kauri, which is a giant tree. During the 1,5 hours we hiked up there, not a single car driving in the right direction passed by, by as we were up by the tree the first car heading from Tapu came driving on the road. Fortunatley for us, they stopped to have a look at the tree as well and were heading to Hot Water Beach, so we tagged along.
Hot water beach was rather cool. Basically, there are two points on the beach where hot water is coming up, you just have to dig a hole and lie down there, it's like enoying a hot bath but much more comfortable, oceanview and lots of tourists. We hung out there for a while, then managed to get to Hahei with a German couple.
As we arrived in Hahei, we went straight to the beach to find a suitable location for our tent. Once again it was pitch dark and we could only see what our torch allowed us to see. It was storming, the ocean was raging and for a while I thought the wind would blow the tent away, but after a while we were inside, safe from the storm and the rain. The ocean was roaring all night, a great sound to fall asleep to!
This morning Mario woke me up with a coffee. Apparently he tried to wake me up several times, but I kept hiding under my sleeping bag so he gave up and went to get some of this magic beverage. As I looked out of the tent I was greeted by the most amazing view, very similar to Bay of Islands. A rather empty beach, lots of islands and great waves.
Even though it's been raining in Auckland all day, we were hanging out on Hahei Beach for a couple of hours playing with my rugby ball, enjong the water and chatting to locals. Does it get much better? We kept telling each other how great life is and oh, if only we could do this every weekend.. After a while we packed our shit an heade for Cathedral Cove which is a top destination on the North Island.
We thought it would be an hour walk there so we got a car with two Brazilians and one German. However, after 5 minutes in the car we were there! The rest of the was was hiking, which I just LOVED! The Cathedal Cove is offically closed because of danger (rocks keeps falling down) but we knew this already and wanted to do it anyway. The stairs down there were closed, so we just hiked, holding on to ropes in order not to slip and fall in the mud.
Cathedral Cove just might have been one of the most beautiful, serene, inspiring, wonderful place I've ever been to. There was a waterfall there as well, which I washed my hair in. The beach was great.. There are no words to describe this place with, you'll see later when I put up the pictures! We stayed there for quite a while and enjyed ourselves!
These guys live in Auckland as well, so we though we just might go back with them. We had a second stop at Hot Water Beach where we had fish 'n chips, then we left for Auckland.
So here I am sitting in my bed, still dirty after Cathedral Cove smelling like a road kill. I'm going to take a shower now, then sleep straight away afterwards. I'm off to work tomorrow morning, then I have conflict resolution 4-7
Life's Good!
(pictures will come asap!)
yours sincerely
