Coromandel (EN)

Dear friend,

It’s Monday night, and I’m still tired from my week end. So, the morning classes, I mean every classes, have been a bit difficult.

On Friday afternoon, 8 friends, including me, went to rent a car to get to Coromandel. When we opened the door, we realised with terror that the driver seat was… on the right side. Even worst, most of the cars were driving… on the left side of the road. Non against the local habits, I started to drive on the left as well. No so easy, I must say. Just lose your concentration for 5 minutes, and I guarantee you that you will get on the right side. Moreover, a majority of cars are automatic (grrr), and the geography makes the road very tortuous. I think, and please forgive me for this, that the European drive on the right side, and that the kiwi, Australian, and other English drive on the wrong side. Nevertheless, we survive my driving.

First, we went to Whangamata, a small city close to the Pacific. After having dropped our backpack in a backpacker’s, not very luxurious, but really welcoming, we had diner in the city, and finally spent the night in a karaoke-pub. I can say we warmed the atmosphere up. Afterward, we moved to the beach to take a swin, at about 1am (the backpacker’s was just near the beach). Not only we got a pneumonia, we (I mean three of us) decided to wake up at 5.30am to watch the sunrise on the beach. Tough waking up, of course, but this was really rewarding!

After one or two more hours of sleep, we had a kiwi breakfast: Eggs Benedicts for me, which is toasts with bacon, and eggs. I must say I really appreciated this. But the story is not over! Once again, it’s a tortuous road that led you to “Hot Water Beach”. There, the hot magma (about 200°C) a few kilometres under the ground make the phreatic water get hotter. This water gets out at about 60°. So, tourists are suggested to dig holes on the sand, and to lie on this improvised warmed swimming pool. The shop close to the parking can lend you a spade, for no less than 20$. Hot Water Beach, a must-seen in every touristic book is probably one of the best joke of the century. Ok, the phenomenon is intriguing, and it’s quite surprising to put your feet on the sand and get them out very fast because the water is too hot. But soon arrives the disappointment: this happens only on a small surface of the beach, which is crowded with tourists, whom I was happy to belong to. Génial. Moreover, the sea was at a normal temperature for the spring, I mean cold, and anyway, you can’t swim there because of the currents. A thing to know when you come to NZ: it’s an amazing country, but with many traps for tourists.

However, the night was much more interesting. Let me make it short: BBQ + bier + table tennis, in particular a turning game with the 8 of us, plus some other students from the school that joined us, plus a Tchec guy that was in the backpacker’s and that gave us a strong alcohol from his country.

We were obviously in a great shape when we got to the Beach the next morning, to reach our kayaks. We went for a short trip to Cathedral Coves Beach, in a maritime reserve. A lot of sun, a few nice waves, and some blue penguins that sometimes got their head out of the water.

We finally went to Coromandel city and to a railway in the forest. It’s a famous attraction in the region, and a bit strange. The train run during an hour in a very wild forest, and the builder decorated the path with potteries (it’s his job), built some tunnels, bridges, in a very artisanal style. But I think we should have made a hiking instead of the train.

Afterward, we went back to Auckland, and I must say It didn’t took long before I fall asleep.

Dear friend, here ends my article. See you very soon.

Seba.

BTW : three cultural comments.

1 - New Zealanders didn’t invent lukewarm water. Most lavabos have two taps, at 40cm to each other, one for the hot water, and the other for cold water. Practical for the washing, isn’t it ?

2 – Maybe I said it already: Asian have an Asian name, but also, for a number of them, an English name. I think it’s very kind from them to care about our pronunciation (I try to say their name, in vain.)

3 – For many people here, it’s not so easy to say ‘Seb’. As a result, my new nickname is “Seba”. Tough.