Ouch I burnt my bum!

In a hot water spring on the beach....


but that's not the beginning of the story!
COROMANDEL:
I spent two nights in Thames - a lovely town with some gorgeous heritage listed buildings and a pretty walk up to a WWII memorial which overlooks the town and the sea. Nina the hostel dog was so cool and we went for walks together and whenever i was reading out in the garden she would come and plonk herself on my lap (bearing in mind she is a huge bull mastiff cross!!) I used a bike from the hostel and cycled round the area and then walked round all the quirky shops in town and had a iced coffee and one of the cool little cafes (most of which are vegetarian or vegan or fair trade or something like that... you get the idea!) and then went to the information centre for some inspiration on things to do - and saw an advert for having a medicine card reading. I always wanted to have it done when I was at uni as the Speaking Tree (only some of you know that shop that i used to spend hooooours in) used to advertise a woman who could do medicine card readings but it was really expensive so I never did it. This, on the other hand was $40 so I decided to go! I am so glad I did it, it was really interesting and made so much sense. I know most of you won't know what I'm talking about but probably aren't interested either- google it if you are B.O.V BOVVERED.
The next stop was Coromandel Town - WOW, what an amazing hostel... I dont even know where to begin to describe it it was just sooo funky. When I arrived I couldn't find anyone to check in with and then appears a lady with the warmest smile from underneath an old vine entwined with bunting! She (Edy) checked me in and showed me around the garden (complete with tipi, barbeques, a wall made from seashells, lanterns, brightly coloured flags, fairy lights, tea light holders, huge candles, quirky bits of pottery etc...) then the lounge/kitchen which was open plan with an amazing wooden old dining table with sea shells filling the holes in the table, big squishy sofas with stunning cushions and throws with african and asian designs on them and amazing colours, a wood burner, some gorgeous paintings and just generally so many tiny details that made it absolutely beautiful! Then she showed me to the dormitory and guess what... Disney MADAGASCAR bed linen! wooop! ha ha! I haven't even seen Madagascar and loved it anyway! I set off to try and find a place that would lend me a fishing rod but no luck.. they only sell them so instead I went to good old Barry Brickell's railway which I'm so glad I did. There were 2 girls called Vivienne (from Dublin) and Nayo (from Osaka) who I was sharing the dorm with so we all went there together and we had lunch at driving creek cafe - another quirky funky place and i had their homemade soup which was sooo yummy! I won't go on too much about the railway just that it was BRILLIANT and so inspirational and if you want to read more then look her: http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz/CreatingDCR.cfm (you should! its so cool)
The following day I wasn't feeling very well so I went for a walk (the shops in coromandel are so cute) and just took it easy lounging about reading my book and chatting to people coming and going and drinking soup! I absolutely love coromandel, it's so laid back and just cool - i cant think of any other word to describe it! The adverts on their notice board say it all: homegrown produce, home baking, herbal remedies, homemade chutneys and pickles, arts, crafts, kids fishing competitions, fish and seafood smoking services, meditation and yoga classes, pottery classes and exhibitions, sculpture gardens, "poems, stories or recollections wanted to form a local book", walking festivals, massage, ukelele and guitar tutoring, earth hour (turn off your lights), bring your glass bottles to the driving creek railway (they make retaining walls from glass bottles and clay), and last but no means least "free classes in how to teach your dog not to eat kiwi birds".
I was sad to leave Coromandel town but the next stop was Whitianga (where I am at the moment). Whitianga is one of the most historic sites in New Zealand with rich maori and european history. It is where Kupe first landed in New Zealand/Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud) around 950AD. Vivienne who I met in Coromandel town decided to come to Whitianga too and we ended up hiring a car together for a day and a half which was brilliant - so nice to be able to explore places properly! the afternoon we got the car, we headed for a beach which apparently is a local's secret.. and i believe that seeing as it was huuuge and stunning and there was nobody there when we got there! We had to clamber over rocks for about half an hour to get there but it was definitely worth it! I went swimming and vivienne walked along the beach and it was soooo nice! On the way home we saw an advert for a little cafe and decided to follow the signs as we'd both forgotten to buy food for dinner and it was already nearly 8pm. When we got to the cafe it was basically a shed extension on a house right on the beach with outdoor fires, lovely music and brilliant decorations. The guy who owned it, called Luke was so friendly, absolutely BEAUTIFUL and had the nicest bum I think I have ever seen. (Not that I was looking). He can't have been much older than me and it made me sooo jealous - i want to do something like that! All he had on the menu was local coromandel green lipped mussels or a choice of 6 different pizzas (I love simple menus like that, usually everything is very fresh and made on the spot) so we ordered a bowl of mussels and a 'little hippy' pizza which had feta, basil, artichokes, capsicum and onion. It was the nicest pizza ive ever had and the mussels were out of this world - so fat and so tasty!
The following day we set off early to Hahei beach - a spectacular white sand beach named after maori chief Hei - around 1350 AD he bought his people to the area and intermarried with the existing tribes. Hei was the sailing master on board one of the seven canoes of the great migration, the “Arawa”. He named the bay Te-o-a-Hei which is where the name Hahei comes from! There are your interesting facts for the day.
Vivienne kayaked from Hahei to Cathedral cove but as it was $100, i decided to walk it instead - it was a beautiful walk and cathedral cove is very pretty - I timed it just right - as i was walking there I only passed about 2 people the whole way and as I was walking back there were hoards of people! one little kid had some feathers sticking out from behind his ears and was holding a stick in a menancing fashion so i said to him "ahhhh, you look like a scary warrior". he obviously wasn't feeling very scary as he then decided to hold my hand and walk by my side (parents in front) chattering about birds and fish and his favourite smells and colours! He was sweet! I went back to Hahei beach to wait for vivienne and then we just drove around the local area and found a picnic spot for lunch. At around 3 we headed to hot water beach... named so because of a natural hot water spring at the beach. Basically, hundreds of people come to the beach with their spades and dig a hole in the sand and the hole fills up with hot water and you bathe in it! It was soooo odd, there were soo many people but it was so much fun - i just underestimated quite how hot the water would be. I burnt my botty! Sadly by the time we had finished there it was time to return the car. We walked back to the hostel, I made a very nice fish curry even if i do say so myself (you can tell im hungry whilst writing this post as most of it has revolved around food, haha!) and chatted with some people who were sharing the communal areas with vivienne and i (we were in a small seperate complex at the hostel with its own kitchenette and lounge) one of the guys donated me some tim tams for a tim tam slam competiton, we watched american idol and willy wonka - good times.
This morning I am waiting for a bus to Tairua where I'll be staying for the easter weekend - it's big on fishing so that's the main reason im going there as I figure i can probably hire a rod from somewhere- plus apparently its good for digging for seafood on the beach! Well actually I have to run or im gonna miss the bus! eeek! xxx