Today we were introduced to Wendy, our camper van! Wendy is our rented 2+1 berth Wenderkreisen campervan, which we picked up in Auckland. Going straight out onto Auckland roads was a bit traumatic, but I soon got used to doubling my usual braking distances, and having a blind spot the size of a lorry. Less easy to get accustomed to was the constant rattling, being overtaken and going to 2nd for any hill above 5%, but so far we're generally pleased with Wendy's performance.
Leaving Auckland we headed straight for an identified Pak'n'Save in Auckland, where we stocked up on plenty of food (cake). We'd forgotten to take bags so we nipped into Warehouse (not a young trend ladies clothes shop) and grabbed five sturdy looking bag-for-life bags for about 45p. On the way out we set of the security alarms - it turns out that in New Zealand they see fit security tags to these bags and are also incapable of removing them. I think its absurd to bother with this for such low value items - I'm sure the labour time cost for the multiple shop assistants required to deactivate the things must come to far more than the $4.95 we paid for them.
Also purchased were some snazzy Christmas decorations for Wendy and an advent calendar featuring Santa in board shorts alongside a Kiwi bird.
Heading north out of Thames the dual carriageway quickly turned into a very twisty but very scenic coastal road. The ocean was mirror flat and being just a few rocks away from it made for a stunning view. Coromandel town itself was as far up the Coromandel Peninsula as we were intending to go so we made a right turn across the spine. This meant a huge incline, on the summit of which would have been some great views but instead gave us a taste of driving through a cloud. A bit of a shame, but once below cloud level Whangapoua Harbour (apparently "wh" is pronounced "f" here) was spread magnificently before us. A necessary pull-in to a 'Slow vehicle bypass lane" allowed us extra time to enjoy it too.
Once we met the Eastern coast we drove through a mixture of agricultural, coastal and bush land to our final destination for the day: Hot Water Beach. This had been described to us as "a beach where, for 2 hours either side of low tide, you can dig your own spa pool as hot springs bubble-up".
This sounded fairly appealing after a long drive so we hired a spade and hastened down to the beach. We'd arrived at low tide exactly so knew we had 2 hours of dig left. Having seen many deserted beaches on the way, and knowing Hot Water Beach was larger, we were expecting to dig a peaceful spa for two in a lonely spot. The beach was indeed deserted, apart from two 10m square areas hosting well over a hundred people!
Nevertheless, we sauntered over with our spade and quickly assessing the situation from a cool distance, naively decided to start digging quite near but not too near the existing sizeable holes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the water that seeped through the bottom was freezing! Even more irritatingly, after just 5 mins of digging a small child came over and asked me " Can I play with your spade?". I tried in vain for a whole minute to ignore him and carry on digging my freezing hole (I've just paid $5 for this spade, I'm bloody well going to use it!) but then his mother and a few others started watching so I had to relent and give up the spade.
Turns out this was a genius move as little boy promptly took my spade into an attractive looking *warm* pool where he proceeded to not do any digging. This was my in! Conquering the awkward social nature of it all I plonked myself into the pool with seven or so strangers, using the plausible excuse that I needed to watch my spade (I'd paid a $20 deposit on it, it wasn't leaving my sight). The pool was lukewarm to warm but infinitely better than my freezing hole next door. The situation improved even more a few minutes later when it was little boy's bedtime and everyone else vacated the pool - this was now *my* spa! A pair of Swiss cyclist girls joined me fairly imminently but I didn't mind - they were good diggers (constant hole maintenance was requires - plus the further you dug, the hotter it was, to the point where it was burning hot) plus they'd had the grace to look as awkward about the social situation as I'd initially felt before taking ownership. Another German girl joined us too, we took pity on her having to wait whilst her Dutch other half tried as unsuccessfully as I had to dig next door.
In the end I spent a happy couple of hours in my hot pool, chatting to strangers and watching the boy fail to DIY their own spa. The tide eventually washed us out (at which point I realised that I'd forgotten to take a towel) and we headed back to Wendy and to bed.
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