Exploring Coast, Culture and Caves - North Island, NZ

Finally! Another long overdue blog entry from down under!

The flu/cold bug hunted us down at Waihi Beach and we quarantined ourselves in the bach for several days. Hot rums and pharmaceuticals allowed us to recoup and continue with our explorations, despite the nagging cough that stayed with Norma for several weeks afterwards.

Coast

We managed to see both coasts of the Coromandel Peninsula with its winding, narrow roads challenging my 'wrong side of the road' driving skills. The Peninsula is very picturesque, particularly on its east side. It is home to the famous Hot Water Beach, where visitors dig pits in the sand at low tide to soak in hot water that rises from the depths of the earth. While the tide tables were in our favour, the seas were too high for us to dig our spa pool. We had to settle for poking our toes into the hot sand while the beach break swirled around our legs. Nonetheless, it was fascinating!

Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach Info Sign

We capped the day with a two-hour guided boat tour of Mercury Bay. As with most of our other excursions, we were the only guests and our guide treated us to a private tour of the area. As we travelled along the coast, we learned about the various geological formations and area history with a stop to view fish life through the boat's glass bottom. We saw renowned Cathedral Arch, ancient volcanic flows and vents, tectonic plate evidence, and blowholes. Cruising into the heart of a large sea-cave was the highlight of our tour!

Shark's Tooth - Tectonic Plate Evidence

Blowhole - Mercury Bay

Sea Cave

Inside Sea Cave

On our way back to the Waihi Beach, we detoured to Pauanui where we expected to find a small bach community set well away from the main road. It turned out to be the holiday community for the rich and famous! Flash summer houses, streets paved in earth-tone, upscale 18-hole golf course, deluxe marina and more development underway. NZ is full of surprises! We had not given any thought to the fact that the Coromandel Peninsula is so close to Auckland.

Culture

We drove down to Rotorua after saying 'good-bye' to the Waihi Beach bach that had been our home for almost two weeks. We were excited about spending some time in 'Roto-vegas' after having the 'pleasure' of spending a few hours at its bus terminal on two separate occasions waiting for ongoing connections. We checked into Ann's Volcanic Motel, a small and friendly operation that provides tidy self-contained units off the main strip.

We made our way to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, where the Ebb Tide rugby team had been warmly received during its April tour. Unfortunately, Norma and I just missed catching up some of the Maori elders that I had met on my earlier visit. Nonetheless, we had a great tour of the geothermal site that is home to many of their families.

Remembrance Gate - Whakarewarewa

Hot Water Pool - Whakarewarewa

Whakarewarewa Marae

Whakrewarewa Marae

We saw steaming vents and hot water pools where families cook their meals, boiling mud pools, geysers and

Whakarewarewa Village

our feet was very warm to the touch and our guide explained the cultural significance of the area. She also explained the dangers of living in a geothermal area, such as steams vents opening beneath house foundations!

Hangi Steam Vent - Whakarewarewa

Pohutu Geyser - Whakarewarewa

Steam Vents - Whakarewarewa

Tiki Warning - Whakarewarewa

Boiling Mud Pool -Whakarewarewa

Whakarewarewa Performers

We returned to the village the next morning to see its cultural performance. It was very entertaining and I was able to join the performers in the haka. Luckily, I was able to keep my hairy white body in the shadows at the back of the stage!

Post-Haka and Shirt on

Our next stop was the Buried Village of Te Wairoa. A massive eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886 buried the community. The survivors were relocated to Whakarewarewa where their descendents continue to live. Many buildings have been excavated and we joined the great-great nephew of the village's tohunga (priest) for a guided tour of the site. Despite numerous visitors present on the grounds, Norma and I were the only ones to join him. Their loss and our gain as he was rich in knowledge!

The story of our guide's great-great uncle, Tuhoto Ariki, was very interesting. The tohunga had predicted that a great calamity would befall the people for deviating from their traditions. The people blamed him for the destruction and many wanted to leave him buried in his whare. He was still alive when they finally dug him out four days after the eruption. Tuhoto Ariki died later in hospital after doctors shaved his head despite his protests. The Maori consider a person's head to be very sacred and it is believed that the tohunga's sanctity was destroyed when his head was shaved.

Trout - Te Wairoa

Te Wairoa Falls

After the tour, we had a very enjoyable bush walk on our own, following a stream teaming with trout to Te Wairoa Falls, before leaving the grounds. We drove to the viewpoint overlooking Lake Tarawera and we could see Mt Tarawera in the distance. It gave us a better understanding of the eruption's incredible power that rained volcanic bombs and ash down on the village so many kilometres away.

Bucky - Lake Tarawera Lookout & Mt Tarawera

Norma and I treated ourselves to a Maori concert and hangi at the Mitai Maori Village that evening. The tour bus picked us up at the motel and gathered other guests from surrounding hostels, motels and hotels. One of our group volunteered to represent us as our 'chief' for the evening's festivities.

Mitai Maori Village - Hangi

After viewing our dinner being removed from the hangi (pit oven), our host led us into the forest where we saw warriors paddle their waka, by firelight, up the stream. We followed them to the concert area that represented a village and where they made the traditional challenge and oratories to our 'chief' and his tribe. We responded to their waiata (song) with one that our host had taught us earlier. The performers entertained us with hakas, songs, poi dances and demonstrations of weaponry.

Mitai Maori Village Performers

Their leader explained the cultural significances of each and he also provided us a detailed explanation of his traditional taa moko (tattoos). The performance was excellent, informative and very entertaining. The performers deserved their extra applause as they were in traditional clothing (read: next to nothing) in the cold damp night while we were bundled up in our winter wear and surrounded with heaters!

We had a delicious hangi meal of chicken, lamb, pumpkin, kumara, potato and stuffing afterwards. Seconds were encouraged and happily taken! We finished our evening with a brief night tour of neighbouring Rainbow Springs Nature Park where we viewed huge trout in the natural springs and spied on rescued kiwi and other birds in aviaries.

Caves

We returned to John and Lynn Jackson's home in Waihou the following morning. Whenever asked how far something was from Waihou, Jacko always responded, "90 minutes" and funny enough, we arrived on their doorstep 90 minutes after leaving Rotorua!

Jacko was on his own as Lynn and daughter Sharne had gone to Roto-vegas for a girls' weekend. We grabbed Norma, picked up two of the local lads and headed off to Paeroa to watch the Waihou 2nd XV playoff game... in the winter rain and wind! Not the best conditions for Norma and her cold even though she was huddled between us in the covered stands! Compulsory drinks in the home team's clubhouse followed before we returned to Waihou for dinner at its local and only pub. Norma begged off from continuing the evening at Waihou RFC... a wise decision as it turned into a late night filled with rugby stories and shenanigans!

Reacquainted After Waihou Tour 1983

Norma and I made a day trip to Waitomo Monday...yep, 90 minutes away from Waihou! We managed to arrive in time to tour two of the area's major caves - the Glowworm Cave and Aranui Cave. Both were spectacular in their own right.

A guide led us through the Glowworm Cave with its huge chambers where concerts and weddings have been held and past arrays of stalagmites and stalactites. She then brought us to a chamber where we boarded a boat and swung off onto the underground river into darkness. When our eyes became accustomed to the dark, we saw that we were amidst a veritable Milky Way of little green lights created by ten of thousands of glow-worms! As directed, we sat in absolute silence so we wouldn't disturb these marvellous little creatures. We also sat in absolute awe! Understandably, photography is not allowed in this cave. Our boat followed the river and exited the cave at an entrance in the forest where we debarked to follow a trail back to the car-park.

Norma and I quickly drove the three kilometres to Aranui Cave, anxious for another experience underground. We met our guide who led our small group along a forest trail to the cave entrance. The cave does not have glow-worms as it does not have a river running through it. However, it is adorned with fabulous and colourful formations created over the eons, including thousands of tiny 'straw' stalactites hanging from the ceiling. We wound along the walkway through the cave, listening to our guide's explanation of the various formations and stories about the cave. We emerged into daylight 45-minutes later, thoroughly amazed and thrilled with everything we had seen and experienced!

Aranui 'Straw' Stalactites

Aaranui Stalactites

Aranui Cave

We revived our kitchen skills and made dinner for the Jackson's that evening, which was our last night in Waihou. John and Lynn's hospitality was fantastic, and our time with them will always be remembered as a highlight of our time in NZ!

Next stop... Auckland and the Northlands!

written by

Shane & Norma on August 16, 2009 from Waihou, New Zealand

from the travel blog: "Not Just Another Rugby Tour" - New Zealand, Samoa and Australia

tagged Rotorua, Coromandel and Waitomo

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