Days 60-62 - Tuesday thru Thursday, October 24 - 26
Tuesday October 24 was a transition day. We left the eco-cabin in Kaeo and traveled for 7 hours, through Aukland to the other side of the North island to the peninsula of Coromandel. Our Airbnb is in McGregor Bay, just outside of the town. The drive up the peninsula through Thames was very beautiful but quite challenging. The road is quite narrow and winding, with the side of the road a sheer cliff to the ocean and the white line somewhere in the sea. Needless to say, we were happy to arrive safely and spent the evening enjoying the view out our window and decompressing from the day's travel.
This picture is taken from a summit above Coromandel town. You can see the entire peninsula where our Airbnb was in the background.
We awoke to rain on Wednesday, October 25. We had planned a hike around the bay that you can only do at low tide, which was around 10:00am. We started out on the hike and only got a little ways before deciding it was too wet and treacherous to keep going. We hung out at our apartment and waited for the clouds to clear. It finally happened late in the afternoon and Carol went for another short walk on the beach.
On Thursday, October 26 we drove about 1 ½ hours to the other side of the peninsula to Hehei Beach in Mercury Bay to kayak the Cathedral Cove (Te Whanganui-A-Hei).
We were fitted with life jackets and with “skirts”, which fit around the opening of the kayak and are supposed to keep you dry. We launched right into a wave and were immediately drenched. So much for the skirt keeping us dry! We were paired with a small group of experienced kayakers (our guide was ecstatic.) We set off upwind for about 30 minutes and entered the natural marine reserve (Waikato), an area that is protected from human effects - take nothing, leave nothing. The first cove we visited is called jewel cove, named for the jewel-colored minerals that fall from the cliffs above because they are heavier than the soft cliff face. We also observed red snapper and other fish.
The next stopping point was to see the Manta Rays. There were several swimming around us, some quite small and others larger. We stayed in our kayaks and observed from above.
The final destination was Cathedral Cove, a beautiful archway that opens up between two beaches made famous by the Narnia movies. We started at one beach, taking some photos back through the archway. Then we landed on the beach on the other side for a break, some amazing photos and a little treat of cappuccino or hot chocolate.
We were all quite surprised when our guide pulled a tarp out of his kayak and told us we would be kayak sailing back to HeHei Beach to end our tour. We gathered our kayaks together to create a raft. The guys in the back held one part of the “sail” and the ladies in the front held the other part. Those of us in the middle held each other's kayaks so that we were one “raft” of kayaks moving together. It was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time. We all smiled, laughed, giggled and screamed as we sailed across the water at quite the speed.
The entire island was affected tremendously by Cyclone
Gabrielle last February. And Cathedral Cove is no exception. There are rockslides regularly due to compromised hillsides above the coves. We had to stay a safe distance from the cliffs. And access is limited to kayak only, you can’t reach it by land.
We returned to Coromandel Town by way of Whitiango where we stopped for lunch. Then we hiked along Long’s Beach to a nature reserve through beautiful bush (aka jungle), including a 1200-year-old kauri tree and many younger kauris, plus a walk above Tuck’s Bay for ocean views.
The Kauri tree is the largest tree by volume, although not the tallest tree in New Zealand and was the tree used by the ancient Māori people to build their “Waka”, war canoes.
Tomorrow we head to our next destination, Taupo. Will post again soon. Cheers!
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