50% Fun, 50% None

Hot Water Beach

Just an overnight trip, the trip to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove in Coromandel was the first trip our group took on its own. Being on our own, without a guide or any plans certainly changes the dynamics of a lot of things. To put it this way, during this trip I might have possibly experienced both the best and the worst times I’ve had thus far in New Zealand. Allow me to begin.

Early on Friday the 23^rd, 8 of us took a minivan to drive to Hot Water Beach. The other 10 had rented somewhat of a small van and were set to depart a bit later. Arriving at Hot Water Beach I was absolutely amazed at the concept of what I 

Cathedral Cove

was experiencing. The beach (which was gorgeous just as always like all New Zealand beaches I’ve encountered) waters temperature was normal, but when you were on the sand and dug under it the water was actually petrifyingly hot. At certain spots you know it’s too hot to dig in because you can actually see the water bubbling and boiling right at the top of the sand. Around this area there is water that is cooler on the skin, and people dig “tubs” in the sand and bask in them, and this is just what we did. For a few hours we soaked in some rays, and definitely probably absorbed a bunch of water too, until the others finally arrived.

By the time of the arrival of the others, after sitting in the hot water for that long, I needed a refresher, and wanted to go run in the ocean. I had been in previous to making our “tub” and the water temperature hadn’t felt bad. However, this time, just after coming out of the steaming water, in comparison it now felt wicked cold. I warned the others that if they wanted to go for a swim at all, they best do it before they indulged in the hot waters. I managed to coerce a few to come in with me, and off into the ocean we went. By this time the waves had gotten really big and were pretty rough. We discovered though, that they were the perfect waves for body surfing. As I kid I used to love to boogey board, and body surfing like I was, was pretty close to just that. My face could barely contain my smile, I was so happy. It was then that things took a drastic turn.

You may recognize this scene from The Chronicles of Narnia!

As I previously mentioned, it was a rough day, the waves were big, and the current was strong. All of a sudden in a matter of two seconds I was dragged pretty far out from all of my friends by the forces of the water. As I was trying to get back in I kept trying to swim but wasn’t going anywhere. On top of that the waves kept pulling me back even further and throwing me underwater. At this point I was getting way too exhausted trying to swim back and couldn’t breathe. It was a really terrifying moment. I can’t even begin to explain how scared I was starting to get. I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for my good friend Chris. He finally noticed I was having difficulties and swam and met me half way, calmed me down, and helped me get back in. Certainly a god sent. It was not a fun experience. After that I was done for the day in the water.

After Hot Water Beach, we all grabbed some food, but it was getting dark and we were in need of a place to camp for the night. About half of the group had tents and were planning on camping, and the other half were going to stay in a hostel. I kept insisting that we try to find a place to legally camp, but everyone kept saying to me that the reason why they had gotten the tents originally was to save money at hostels. Sometimes it just isn’t worth it to argue so I took a backseat. After driving around for about an hour looking for a place, it was getting dark and we were running out of options, so we settled on a place near Hot Water Beach. Pitching our tents in the dark, near a swampy area, was probably not the best choice. Wearing shorts from earlier still, I must have ended up with about 40 bug bites if I remember my count correctly. I was not a happy camper that is for sure.

After barely sleeping a wink, sleeping on a rock hard ground, not being able to stretch my legs due to the fact I was sharing a 3 person tent with 3 other very large boys, we were woken up to a $200 fine by a park ranger telling us we had 5 minutes to pack up and leave. Worst night ever.

View from up in the mining caves down to the Gorge

Not knowing what to do we just drove to Cathedral Cove. Let me say this, it was absolutely stunning. I later found out that exactly where we were a part of the Chronicles of Narnia was filmed, pretty awesome right? Later on in the day with tensions still running high from grumpiness and lack of sleep, and anger from the fine, the group split into two. 12 people went back to Hot Water Beach, and 6 of us decided to make a pit stop on the way back to Auckland at Karangahake Gorge. I had already spent the previous day at the beach and wanted to see something new. At the gorge we got to trek though old mining caves that had these really high lookouts to the gorge deep down between the gully below. I think I win in making the better of the two choices.

 

Over all in the end, half of the trip was really fun, and half of it was not. Don’t get me wrong, when I was having fun, I would rate the fun at 100%, but wish I had been able to have more. When I finally arrived back at my dorm residence, I was greeted by a lovely infestation of ants in my dorm room. Just my luck right?