And to everyone else: I've changed the blog so anyone can leave comments now!]
Earlier this week I finished my short stint at John and Trish's plant nursery, which concluded with an all-day rainfest and a potluck on Sunday. John's part of the rotary club in Thames, and they hosted around 30 people for a pre-Christmas BBQ and potluck at the house. Schmoozing with Thames' elderly-ish locals what up! My favourite old man brought the jello and marshmallows. I didn't blend into the background too well, being Asian/non-Kiwi and 30 years younger than everyone else. Half the people were assigned to bring pudding (aka dessert)..... so I went to town and ate about 4-5 different kinds of sweets. And the best part is, everyone brings their own plates/cutlery, so there's barely any cleanup, and seeing as they're older, everything was tidy and quiet by 10pm!
Trish drove me to the edge of town on Monday, and that's where the hitchhiking adventure begins. I waited thirty minutes until I got a ride from a retired golf fanatic named Jim. We arrived in Coromandel Town via the beautiful coastal highway, which is always a welcome sight when you're curving in and out of the windy roads.
So Jim drives me to Tui Lodge, which happens to be 95% full of Germans. In the evening I played Wizard and Bullshit (card games) with fellow backpackers and forced them to speak English. Oh yeah, and you better believe that I regressed on eating out as soon as I started traveling on my own again. First day of freedom, and I had lunch and dinner out. I biked up to Driving Creek Cafe and had an awesome veg lunch in this hippy garden/used bookstore/wwoof location that had a Sunshine Coast vibe. And later that night I had an equally tasty dinner, pizza with chicken, kumara (sweet potato) and mushrooms. YUM! (In my defense, it was cloudy and rainy, so there really was nothing else to do but eat).
Day number two of hitchhiking started out even better. The road to Whitianga was right outside the hostel, so all I did was cross the street and stick my thumb out for 30 seconds, and car #2 stops. I wasn't even standing in position yet! The driver (let's call him Willy because I didn't get his name), was a commercial fisherman originally from Ireland. That ended up being a pleasant ride too, and I was promptly dropped off at the i-site in Whitianga.
However, the rest of the way to Hahei, where I was to spend the night, ended up being much trickier. The route isn't direct on the highway or coming off a ferry and on another road. I opted for the latter because I thought I could get a ride from a car on the ferry. What I didn't know was that it was just a tiny boat for passengers. Worse, it crossed over to a quiet residential neighborhood - not exactly the traffic I had hoped for. Nothing doing for about a half hour, so I stopped a couple who were out on a sporty walk for advice. After chatting for a bit, they decided to take matters into their own hands and offered me a ride to Hahei themselves! I happily waited while they walked back to their house and got the car. Turns out Kate and Tom were on Chrismas vacation and staying in town with family. They have a son who's traveling in India, so they wanted to make sure I was safe in the same way they wanted someone else looking after their kid.
The best things about hitchhiking, especially with locals? They know exactly where they're going, they give you commentary on the surrounding nature and local history along the way and offer to pull over so you can take pictures (Tom and Kate actually parked at a viewpoint and walked up with me), they drive through town to orient you, and then they drive you straight to your hostel. First class service! And the nice thing about hitchhiking during the holiday season? More do-gooders with the ride-giving holiday spirit!
Tatahi Lodge in Hahei was fantastic, almost comparable to Endless Summer Lodge in Ahipara that I had raved about. Nearby was the famous Cathedral Cove, which was part of a beautiful marine reserve that included a walk to a number of bays. The landscape was part tropical, part Jurassic park, part Hobbiton. The cove itself was a little secluded beach spot facing funky rock formations that jutted out of the emerald blue waters.
After the sun disappeared behind the hill I headed back to the hostel to see if anyone was driving to the Hot Water Beach. Nobody was, so armed with a borrowed spade I braved it on my own and tried to hitch. The streets were dead, and I had to walk about 2km out of town. Suddenly, a car zooms by, stops, and a bunch of Germans peer out the windows at me and politely demand that I get in the car. They're the first tourists to give me a ride, 2 girls and 2 guys. They drive me to the beach and we check it out together.
What a bizarre scene! The beach was quite big, but the hot water part of it was only about 15-20m wide, so there were a bunch of people clumped together trying to dig their own sandy hot tubs. The tide wasn't quite right yet and there were way too many people for the amount of space available, plus I was alone in my efforts, so I just stuck my feet in the hot sand and called it a day. The Germans were nice and gave me a ride back into town before going back to Whitianga. I made them drop me off at a restaurant I had eyed before, which turned out to be a romantic date type of place. In I went, my shorts soggy, feet sandy, spade (which was really a small shovel) in hand, and got a table for 1. I didn't feel too bad though, because the girl at the next table was wearing pyjama pants.
I had success hitching into Waihi the next day too, with an electrician named Rob. Because the way down the west side of the peninsula is broken up by a bunch of small towns, I thought I would have to get multiple rides, but he ended up driving me the whole way (only I had to hang out a bit because he stopped in a couple towns to do some jobs). But I finally managed to meet up with Katie, an ex-coworker from teaching who's been living in NZ for the past year and has a husband named George and a baby named Georgie. Cute, eh? Those guys have a small house in the country outside of Waihi and the beginnings of an awesome garden. Should've wwoofed for them :) We went to the beach for a bit with the baby and George cooked an amazing 2 entree dinner, and that night I crashed in their purple van outside.
The day after was the most dramatic travel day I've had in New Zealand. Katie and George graciously offered to take a daytrip driving me the 4 hours to Taupo, with some stops along the way at a hot springs and scenic viewpoints. George, being Kiwi, had this whole itinerary planned out. Well, things don't always happen the way you want them to... about 40 minutes out of town, the car makes a funny noise and doesn't start up again. We get stranded on the side of the highway for about 2 hours without hope, with the exception of two guys who happen to know about cars stopping to help and then driving off to get car tools, never to return. Then me and Katie and the baby end up chilling out with plants at the garden center down the road for another 2 hours, while George hitches back to get his uncle's car.
5 hours after our departure time, we're back on the road! Unfortunately, this time there's no room for leisure and I have a hot lap full of fish and chips. But nevertheless, we make it! I stumble into Blackcurrant Backpackers dazed and confused, while they stop by at a friend's house in town and drive the 3 hours back. (Thanks again you guys!)
Anyway, now I'm in Taupo in an amazingly social hostel and I'm stuffed with ice cream and bangers in the mouth (Christmas Eve linner). But that'll have to wait until the next post. For now, Feliz Navidad!
Wow wow! Seems like you are very lucky so far and yes, it has been lots of water all along, but they look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou are your own boss now and you should know what you are doing.
Just make sure you are sharp and not exhausted while hitchhiking or near the water.
Got confused with the small towns you have been visiting, will check it out.