Rock & Roll

Our first sight of the ocean today set one of the themes for the day--BIG waves rolling in and crashing mightily on the beach, with a cool backwash effect from the offshore wind.



Quickly packing a lunch, we again headed north up the Coromandel Penninsula, stopping first at Tairua, where we enjoyed some unusual boats--neither very seaworthy at present!--and a lovely coastal walk, where we met some fellow Canadians (from B.C.).


Further north we went out to Hahei, and were struck by how pink the sand is there. I've never been to Bermuda, but maybe it looks like this there. It's a beautiful beach, with unusual sandstone rocks along the shore--and rocks became our second theme. The overhanging trees are pohutakawa, which have a deep red bloom in December, and so are called the New Zealand Christmas tree.


This may look like a benign swimming scene, but in reality it was quite a traumatic wake-up call for everyone concerned. Although I did not realize it when I snapped the photo, these folks were anxiously searching the breakers for an elderly man who had just been knocked down and rolled by the riptide. Seconds later a courageous young man with a surfboard leaped off the low cliff above the beach and ran in to help. Luckily, they got the gentlemen out of the surf and helped him up the beach, obviously badly shaken, but okay. Gorgeous beach--but don't take Mother Nature for granted!


Just a bit further north, we stopped at Cathedral Cove, seen here from the carpark overlook. The walk out to the cove takes an hour, return, and is quite steep--and we chickened out, choosing instead to walk down to the closer Gemstone Cove, named obviously for these wonderfully coloured rocks. Maybe another day we'll feel more energetic!




Our final beach stop, working our way back southwards, was Hot Water Beach where, for several hours either side of low tide, you can dig a pit in the sand and enjoy a soak in the naturally hot water rising from underground volcanic springs--this country provides every amenity for free! Our timing was wrong to enjoy this effect (though the day was too warm to really want to sit in hot water anyway--sorry, my freezing Canadian readers!). Instead we watched more huge waves, this time successfully negotiated by skilled surfers, and marveled at the cool rock formations. Frank was feeling really on top of things by now! ;)




On the drive back down to Whangamata, I was more aware of the beautiful colours of the roadside rocks and soils, ranging from ivory through every shade of pink, peach, coral, red, and rust you can imagine. These last shots were snapped from the moving car--not bad, eh? The second one can maybe be used as abstract art!