About two hours east of Auckland on our way to Coromandel, Anna and I stopped over in Paeroa, home of the Lemon & Paeroa (L&P) soft drink, and had lunch at the Lemon & Paeroa cafe and bar, where I tried my first L&P soda. I consider myself a bit of a cola connoisseur, and have this to say about L&P: it tastes a bit like carbonated Lemonheads. I like it! The L&P logo was one of my first introductions to the subtle, slightly self-depricating sense of humor that seems to permeate through a lot of New Zealand culture. The tag line for L&P soda is,"World Famous in New Zealand Since Ages Ago."
Coromandel peninsula is beautiful! The winding mountain highway from Auckland reveals a gorgeous limestone coastline that's pock marked with caves and natural archways. The inland of the pensinsula used to be home to kauri tree logging, but nowadays is host to a thriving ecotourism industry. It was one of my favorite locations in all of the north island.
Anna and I checked into a holiday park near Hot Water Beach on the eastern part of the peninsula and then went to the beach to check out the famous geothermal pools. Hot Water Beach sits on top of an underground hot spring, and hot water seeps through the ground into the sand on the surface. Vistors to the beach often bring a shovel and bucket to dig large bathing pools in the sand where the water becomes incredibly warm. How people could actually bathe in the water was beyond me though. Digging my feet into the sand only a couple of inches was painfully hot! The bathing holes can only be dug during the two hours before and after low tide. Because we got there right at low tide, the beach was littered with pale tourists lounging all over the sand. I was reminded of albino sea lions.
Hot water beach is also known for it's dangerous surf. Lifeguards at the beach designate swimming areas with cones, and enforce them pretty rigourosly. At one point in the day Anna and I washed up on the beach in a non-designated swimming area after losing our footing, and the lifeguards promptly rushed over to ridicule us.
WARNING! Be sure to safely secure any sunglasses or bikini tops. Anna and I both lost our sunglasses to a deceptively strong wave, and Anna lost a bit of her virtue.
On the second day on the peninsula Anna and I visited the Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve.
Within the reserve are a number of gorgeous marine coves. We hiked the full footpath which just seemed to get better and better as we progressed. First we visited Gemstone Bay, which was a small bay flanked by cliffs with large colorful boulders on the beach.
Next we visited Stingray Bay where we met a hyperactive British man who we nicknamed Smitty (I can't remember why - I think that was his last name, Dan). The man was a human nuclear reactor. I wish I had a small fraction of his energy. He told us about running the Tongariro crossing with such ferocity and enthusiasm that he literally started to froth at the mouth.
My First L&P---->
(You must click for a better view)
Coromandel peninsula is beautiful! The winding mountain highway from Auckland reveals a gorgeous limestone coastline that's pock marked with caves and natural archways. The inland of the pensinsula used to be home to kauri tree logging, but nowadays is host to a thriving ecotourism industry. It was one of my favorite locations in all of the north island.
Anna and I checked into a holiday park near Hot Water Beach on the eastern part of the peninsula and then went to the beach to check out the famous geothermal pools. Hot Water Beach sits on top of an underground hot spring, and hot water seeps through the ground into the sand on the surface. Vistors to the beach often bring a shovel and bucket to dig large bathing pools in the sand where the water becomes incredibly warm. How people could actually bathe in the water was beyond me though. Digging my feet into the sand only a couple of inches was painfully hot! The bathing holes can only be dug during the two hours before and after low tide. Because we got there right at low tide, the beach was littered with pale tourists lounging all over the sand. I was reminded of albino sea lions.
Hot water beach is also known for it's dangerous surf. Lifeguards at the beach designate swimming areas with cones, and enforce them pretty rigourosly. At one point in the day Anna and I washed up on the beach in a non-designated swimming area after losing our footing, and the lifeguards promptly rushed over to ridicule us.
WARNING! Be sure to safely secure any sunglasses or bikini tops. Anna and I both lost our sunglasses to a deceptively strong wave, and Anna lost a bit of her virtue.
Oh my. Yes. That was fun...
On the second day on the peninsula Anna and I visited the Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve.
Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve
Within the reserve are a number of gorgeous marine coves. We hiked the full footpath which just seemed to get better and better as we progressed. First we visited Gemstone Bay, which was a small bay flanked by cliffs with large colorful boulders on the beach.
Gulls at Gemstone Bay
Next we visited Stingray Bay where we met a hyperactive British man who we nicknamed Smitty (I can't remember why - I think that was his last name, Dan). The man was a human nuclear reactor. I wish I had a small fraction of his energy. He told us about running the Tongariro crossing with such ferocity and enthusiasm that he literally started to froth at the mouth.
- A piece of cake! Later in the blog, you will witness how we RAN a track in Tongariro also.
Finally at the end of the path we arrived at Cathedral Cove (a location you all might recognize from the beginning of Chronicals of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Personally I didn't remember the movie at the time, so the experience wasn't ruined for me). Cathedral Cove has a large archway that cuts through a barrier between it and the neighboring cove. It's no stretch of the imagination to figure out why they named it Cathedral Cove, because walking through the archway and looking up at the rock roof way overhead is like walking through a natural basilica.
After lounging on the beach at Cathedral Cove for most of the afternoon (sulking as the weather turned from average to WORST after that last shot of the Cathedral Cove) Anna and I then drove north to Mercury Bay were we explored the jagged volcanic coastline.
We were originally trying to find Matarangi Bay but somehow got lost on the way.
Smitty kayaking in Stingray Bay
View from Stingray Bay
Cathedral Cove
Beach at Cathedral Cove
A small waterfall and Pohutukawa tree at Cathedral Cove
After lounging on the beach at Cathedral Cove for most of the afternoon (sulking as the weather turned from average to WORST after that last shot of the Cathedral Cove) Anna and I then drove north to Mercury Bay were we explored the jagged volcanic coastline.
We were originally trying to find Matarangi Bay but somehow got lost on the way.
We got to Mercury Bay just in time for some awesome rainbow action!
After this, we skipped along the asphalt road with our arms around each others shoulders, getting enough attention from the passersby before driving back to our holiday park.
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