We experience some real New Zealand hospitality and fun

After kicking around Hamilton a couple of more days last week, we loaded up our minivan on Friday the 13th and headed to Hahei to spend the weekend at our friends', Chris and Sharon, "bach" on the beach. They treated us royally and we had a fabulous 3-day weekend. To use a Kiwi expression, we "lucked in" on Friday the 13th. In NZ, to "luck out" is to have bad luck. Also, a bach is a summer home, like a cottage and like cottages in Canada, they can range from modest, wooden baches to million dollar mansion baches. We have been told the expression is a shortening of bachelor home. These bachelor homes (shacks) were built around work camps, mines, beaches, etc. by single, working men as a rough place to live.

Hahei is on the eastern shore of the Coromandel Peninsula near Mercury Bay. Much of the eastern shore of the Coromandel Peninsula is a popular summer destination for Kiwis, and people from all over northern NZ have baches there. It is a beautiful area with lots of great beaches, (some) quiet bays, and islands, and offers a lot of good fishing, snorkeling/diving, and general boating/touring. We plan on returning to the area and Coromandel to do some more exploring.




On our way to Hahei, we learned some more about driving in NZ. First off, Karen had her first experience behind the wheel. Naturally she did fabulously and only used the windshield wipers once to signal a turn. Clearly she is a much better multi-tasker than me. Travel distances and times in NZ should not be equated with those in Canada. It is around 170 km on highways from Hamilton to Hahei. In Canada, this would take around 1.5 hours, in NZ, 2.5 hours. The first 100 km/hr highway we drove on had numerous bends and curves that required you to slow down to 65 km/hr. The last third of the drive took us over the Coromandel Mtn Range which is full of sharp turns best taken at 50 km/hr, particularly with a top heavy minivan. In NZ, you definitely need to rely on the stated driving time vs. actual distance if you are planning on doing some touring.

On Saturday, Chris and Sharon took Marshall, Karen and I, plus their other weekend guests, Will and Diana, out in their boat for some sight-seeing (touristicking), snorkeling, and fishing. Unfortunately, it became cold and windy with some occasional drizzle shortly after we got out on the ocean, so we did not do any snorkeling. However, we had a great tour and did some fun fishing. The Mercury Bay area has many small islands that, if you were to ask me beforehand, look like what I imagined a south seas island would be. A lot of these islands have caves or tunnels.



Looking out over Hahei Bay

Later in the afternoon we went fishing for kahawai and had a lot of success. They are a fast moving predatory fish, so when you troll for them you move at a really good clip. Every time someone hooked a kahawai, we yelled "fish on" so Chris could slow down the boat and give us a chance to reel the fish in. Marshall had a great time and caught the most fish, although he also had a rod the longest. For dinner we had smoked and curried kahawai, which is a bit of a stronger tasting fish, so these are some of the preferred ways to eat it.

On Sunday, we went out in the boat again. Although still cool, we were able to do some snorkeling. Time to clarify one more thing. It may look tropical with the lush vegetation and clear blue waters, but the water temperature is not. I was thinking Hawaii or the Caribbean. Instead, Chris and Sharon suited us all up with full wetsuits. They helped but we didn't last too long in the water. We saw lots of neat fish though. It was a different kind of snorkeling for us. It was around rocks and seaweed/kelp vs. coral. At first Marshall was a little worried with the different surroundings, but once he started seeing all the new fish, he had a lot of fun.

After we finished snorkeling and warming up, we went fishing for snapper, which is a really good eating fish. More good luck. We caught snapper, a pig fish, a scorpion fish, plus a few other kinds. More importantly, Marshall and I CAUGHT A SHARK. Marshall was holding the rod when he said he got a bite. After he set the hook the rod really started to bend. I thought he might have been snagged on the bottom, so I took the rod from him. It was no snag. I went to give the rod back to Marshall when I realized he had hooked something big. I said sorry, but it was too big for him. After some hard reeling, up to the surface came a 4 foot mako shark. What a surprise and thrill. Fortunately it cut through the leader right at the side of the boat and we didn't need to bring it in. Karen has some video, which we will try and upload some day soon. Those were two fishing days and a weekend in general that will be hard to top. Marshall could not stop talking about how much fun he had.

Chris and Sharon went home (and back to work) on Sunday night and left their bach for us and Will and Diana. On Monday morning Karen, Marshall and I walked from Hahei Beach to Cathederal Cove, which the guidebooks describe as a must-see thing to do if you are in the Coromandel area. They are right. It took us about hour to walk one way up and down some pretty hilly terrain to get there, but it was well worth the effort. Cathederal Cove is quite sheltered, so the water is very clear (although still cold). What distinguishes Cathederal Cove from others is the huge stone archway/tunnel that separates one side of the beach from the other. We spent a bit of time exploring and swimming (and jumping off rocks) and then headed back to Hahei before the crowds showed up. After that we packed up and headed home for Hamilton in time for supper.

Cathderal Cove, Mercury Bay, NZ



Two of the good looking guys that can be found in NZ

Some of our new favourite Kiwi expressions:

Marshall - put the chilly bin in the boot. (Put the cooler in the trunk).

Karen - It's rather lumpy out here today. (There are a lot of biggish waves).

Scott - Jandels and toggs. (Japanese sandals/flip flops and bathing suit).

How Kiwis launch their boats in the surf