The Long Road Home

I have been a bad, bad correspondent lately but I will try to make up for it here and now. (Enter Van Halen's "Right Here, Right Now.")

Well...since I left Mt. Maunganui behind I've covered a few thousand kilometers or so of some pretty picturesque New Zealand countryside. On the 17th I met up with a friend who was touring up the Coromandel peninsula by car. We went up the East coast of the strip through Waihi, Pauanui and Tairua. We made a stop at Hot Water Beach. There you can dig a hole in the sand at low tide and let hot water rise up into the hole. It's like your very own hot pool sans leathery Germans and foreign Asians. I could have sat there all day-watching kids surfing, soaking up the last bit of sun, generally reveling in my freedom from school. It was all very idyllic. We headed on up the road to Cathedral Cove named for the huge Cathedral-like space carved out of the rock by the ocean. It was pretty wild. Huge. After that we cut across the cape by way of a sketchy logging road (which my friend felt the need to practice his rally driving skills. I saw my life flash before my eyes on more than one occasion.) In the middle of this stretch of highway there is a scenic reserve where you can walk for 5 minutes or so into a grove of Kauri trees. Kauris are like the Redwoods of the West coast of North America. They are huge, wide, tall, beautiful trees. They can grow hundreds of feet high and hundreds of years old. The oldest Kauri in New Zealand was 4000 years old! Then it went up in smoke in a forest fire. The trees I hugged were only about 2 meters in diameter and about 700 years old. We stayed that night in Coromandel town at the best hostel I have stayed at yet. Tui Lodge. Tell 'em Chris sent ya'.

The next day we walked around the town, which by the way is a charming little village. It is really interesting how your opinion of places is so affected by the circumstances in which you experience the surroundings. If it is cold and dreary it is almost certain that the town most certainly will not be appealing. On the other hand I probably like some crap-hole towns just because the day was perfect when I toured them. This might be the case with Coromandel Town. Regardless…I liked the place. We left Coromandel and went North all the way to Cape Colville at the tip of the peninsula. The road North followed the coast and was lined by magnificent pohutukawa. We hiked up the mountain at the cape and lunched there. It was a stunning view. We made the drive back down the cape to Thames along the West Coast. That night we dined on massive amounts of Indian food and had the hostel to ourselves.

I parted ways with my traveling companions (thankfully…I really would rather be on my own) in Thames and caught a couple of buses up to Paihia via Auckland. I spent 4 nights and 3 days there, which I filled with Waitangi one day, Russell another, and a bus trip to the Far North on the final. Waitangi is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. This is a document created by ole Mother England to screw the Maori out of their land. It is still being contested by lawyers and protestors today. There is a great exhibit in Waitangi as well as a nice bush walk to a so-so waterfall (me being a waterfall connoisseur.) Russell is a quaint, historic town filled with retirees; I can’t blame them really-it’s really nice and quiet. The bus trip to Cape Reinga is something to remember. Leaving Paihia it is about a 3 hour trip up to the Cape. You go through more Kauri forests and follow the coast through some historic, rugged towns (like Taipa where is it said that Maui, the first Maori, came with his wife from Hawaiki.) The lighthouse at the point is a very powerful sight. The elements seem so powerful around you-2 oceans mix in a massive whirlpool of froth and foam, the wind howls around you, the waves batter the rock. On the way back down the peninsula we crossed the quicksand of Te Paki stream and sand boarded down the gigantic sand dunes there. We traveled down the 90 mile beach (actually only about 60) where the Tasman sea pounds the beach on one side and the wild horses roam the largest forest in New Zealand on the other. It is possible to dig your hand into the sand on the beach and come up with a handful of tuatua (a relative of the mussel) that you can pry open and eat. It is a mind-boggling place where you can find all the things you need for a feed on the beach and in the bush around you.

After Paihia I traveled back down to Auckland where I spent 5 nights and 4 days. Auckland is a pretty alright little cosmo city says I. I guess I did all the stuff that you do when you are in Auckland-the museum, the art gallery, the Skytower, Kelly Tarlton’s, climb a volcano, etc. The aquarium was a highlite. Kelly Tarlton was the man who had the idea to put a glass tunnel through an aquarium. It is a pretty rad sight to see shark and mammoth rays swimming around you. I did a lot of wandering too (I like wandering in new cities. It is how you see the most interesting things I think.) Ponsonby Rd and K Rd are like Queen St in T dot. Parnell is like Yorkville. They are both charming areas of the city. I spent a day on Waiheke Island, the largest of the Islands in the Hauraki Gulf around Auckland. On the ferry ride to the island we were accompanied by a pod of dolphins that played in the wake of the boat. The island is pretty much a suburb of the city now but it does still maintain it’s slow pace of life (in agreement with the guidebook.) There are a lot of artists that took up residence on the island so there is all sorts of art to see, as well as hundreds of amazing secluded bays to find. If you were partial to skinny dipping this would be the place.

And Saturday morning I begrudgingly flew home to Christchurch. I didn’t want to come back here because everyone was saying how cold and miserable it was. Luckily, yesterday and today have been sunny and relatively warm so the adjustment has been as gradual as possible. I’m pretty well settled back in now-bought a heater, some slippers, some flannelette sheets, and stocked my shelf in the fridge. I start back to school tomorrow. It will be good to compare stories with all the other student teachers. Shop talk. I now understand why my Dad hated it so. I start the whole routine over again; 5 weeks of school (read vacation) and 5 weeks teaching.

Thanks to everyone that sent me stuff while I was away. I was chuffed to return to a pile of mail to open.

I added some new photos to my photo album. The ones called “Go North” are what you are looking for.

That’s it for now.