Travel Journal:

New Zealand - Whitianga


Whitianga 2006-11-10
 
I woke up this morning and saw the sun. Yay! It's amazing what a difference a little sunlight can make. When I arrived in Cormandel Town on Thursday it looked liek a dreary little town that really just had the ruggedness of the coast going for it. However this morning after I checked out I did one for the Cormandel Coast walks that took me up to a lookout point. It was gorgeous. You could see little islands, far off mountains, and the water was a lovely blue.

I got back on the PCH and drove to Whitianga. I went to the i-site and got booked for 2 nights in a self contained unit at the Central Park Motel for $70/nt. After I got settled I got a recommendation from the desk for lunch at Cafe Nina's. I walked over and got a chicken and asparagus filo (the seafood chowder was out) and a Phoenix Lemon/Lime Bitter soda. It was good but not super filling.

Then I walked around the town a bit and spotted a place that sells fresh caught seafood. Their sign said they had scallops today. I drove over to the supermarket and bought some food and stuff for dinner. Then I went to get the scallops and realized they are measured in kilograms. Now I know that there are 454grams in a pound but I just wasn't prepared to do metric conversions in my head. Then I stopped at a sort of McCrory's type store and bought a pair of cheap flipflops and sunglass holders. I'm going on a half day kayak tour tomorrow and I don't want to lose my good flipflops or my sunglasses.

I put everything away and went for a walk. There is a bone carving studio where you can take a class and carve your own pendant. They had some cool stuff and it seems fun but I didn't want to spend the money. Then I went into a surfy lifestyle shop that carried gravis. I also hit up another general type store and bought some NZ yarn and a tote bag.

By the time I got back it was around 4pm and I didn't have anything to do so I decided to drive round to the other side and check out the Hot Water Beach. There are springs under the beach so about an hour on either side of low tide you can dig your own mineral bath in the sand. I drove over there and went over to see it. I hadn't put my suit on so I was just wading. Damn that was hot! As the tide came in you could dig your feet in the sand and it was boiling hot. But then you had the cold ocean water to cool you off. I think I might go back tomorrow and try it for real.

After the Hot Water Beach I headed for Hahei Beach, then Cook Beach and the Ferry Landing. I got a little disoriented in Cook Beach but eventually found my way. On my way back I stopped at the Shakespeare Cliffs and took a few photos. I think all of the curvy roads were making me carsick since my car didn't handle curves well at all.

I got back and put a load of laundry in and started cooking dinner. So the scallops were fresher than what I was used to since they had these weird orange parts still on them. I guess that's what they look like when they are alive. Weird.

 From what I can tell there are 2 broadcast tv channels. The first thing on was America's Next Top Model - last season. Then an episode of House.

so right now I'm drinking some NZ riesling, procrastinating washing dishes, and waiting for my laundry to dry.

Can someone explain to me why most faucets here have separate taps for hot and cold water? Why don't they have 2 handles and one tap. It just seems silly. In order to get a normal temperature of water you have to fill the sink.

 
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