Coromandel Peninsula

I just got back this afternoon from our trip to Coromandel Peninsula. We stayed in the town of Whitianga, which was about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from our apartment in Auckland. Again, we didn't have the best weather for our trip, but we still had a great time!

We left early on Friday morning in 4 rental cars. The people brave enough to try driving on the other side of the road did a wonderful job and got all of us there safely. I am proud to say, however, that my car (don't worry, I was NOT the driver) was the only car not to get lost on the way there! Once we arrived at our hostel, we had to wait a bit to check in, so we just explored the town. We were staying right near a beach, so we walked around a bit and ate our packed lunches. There were 22 of us total on this trip, split up between 2 dormitory style rooms (8 beds in one room and 14 in another).

(This was taken right at the end of our street!)

Once we got settled in, we headed out for the beach! We knew the weather forecast was not good for Saturday or Sunday, so we wanted to make the best of Friday's sunny weather. We drove to a car park and waited for the other cars to catch up. One group went on ahead while some of us waited. But then finally, the last car was so lost and was so far behind that we had to go on withouth them...they eventually caught up with us later. The beach at Cathedral Cove was a 45 minute walk from the car park. It was a nice walk, and actually tougher than I was anticipating!

It was WELL worth it though, because we stopped along at beautiful little inlets and were walking through absolutely beautiful scenery.

Cathedral Cove is so named because there is a cave-like rock formation that connects two beaches. You can look from one beach to the other through this "cave" and inside it has a very high cathedral style ceiling. The water was beautiful and very comfortable for swimming. There was a rock a little ways out, which we all swam to and then jumped off of! It was so amazing to be swimming in such beautiful surroundings.

Here's Cathedral Cove:

And this is the rock we were jumping off of:

We walked back to the cars and everyone was tired out and ready to shower. We actually got ready surprisingly fast for such a large group. We walked into town and everyone just kind of split up and found places to eat for dinner. After dinner, we all headed to the beach to hang out. The sky was clear and you could see so many stars. Nick brought his guitar and Tom had his saxophone, so we had a little sing-a-long on the beach. Very fun!

The next morning, we woke up to the sound of pouring rain. And I mean like torrential downpour! The rain lightened up for a bit and we walked into town for brunch at a little cafe. Then we just kind of hung around at the hostel that afternoon playing cards and watching movies. We all chipped in for groceries and cooked dinner that night. We had burgers on the grill, pasta, and salad.

After dinner, we headed out to Hot Water Beach. There are thermal springs beneath this beach, so for 2 hours on either side of low tide, you can dig in the sand and hot water comes up! It's pretty amazing. The boys dug out a huge hole and built up a wall to keep the ocean water out. So basically, we made our own hot tub right on the beach. There was one part in the center though where the water was actually bubbling because it was so hot. It was a weird experience because the water near the center was so hot it was actually burning you, but then the upper part of your body, which was exposed to the air and the drizzle, was freezing! We were all splashing the hot water around trying to keep everyone warm. When it started to rain harder, we decided it was time to leave.

(Unfortunately, since it was raining, I don't have any pictures from Hot Water Beach...I didn't want my camera to get wet.)

Again, we all went back to shower off. I have been enjoying my showers in New Zealand much more than at home because they are always so needed! Once everyone was ready, we headed into town. There was a live band playing at the local pub, so we went to check that out. It turned out to be a pretty good time.

This morning, we had to be checked out by 10, so we all got up and got our stuff together and cleaned up. Of the 4 cars, 3 of them decided we would just head home. The fourth car wanted to drive somewhere to go on a hike. I was pretty tired out and also needed to take a trip to the grocery store, so I decided to head back to Auckland. We decided to take advantage of still having the rental cars and actually DRIVE to the grocery store....instead of walking and carrying our groceries back the whole way!

So, classes start tomorrow and that should put a different twist on things here. Vacation mode is coming to an end...now I'll actually have a schedule to stick to. The structure will be nice, but I'm really hoping that I will still have enough free time to relax and enjoy being here.