#pauanui

Porter and Evan stayed for the week and worked out of the Auckland office so they could maximize their time up North. Al, Evan’s partner, joined us on Wednesday night. Our plan was to take Friday off, hike the Pinnacles, stay in the hut, and see the sunrise on Saturday morning from the top. On Thursday morning on my way to work, I got a text from the Department of Conservation stating that the weather was so nice that weekend, that they were closing the entire Coromandel Forest to perform aerial spray for pests. Plans: cancelled.

When we got to work we had to scramble to piece together last minute plans and find new accomodation for the weekend. I put in a request to for a dope Airbnb in Pauanui from Thurs-Sun and then had to leave for a site visit at the tallest residential building in Auckland. I spent most of the site visit in the stair core with very poor reception. I was lucky to have service when I got a message from the hosts asking why I was making such a last minute booking. I told them the Pinnacles sob story and they accepted my request! Things were looking up.

We got dinner in Ponsonby, grabbed some groceries at Countdown, and then hit the road. When we arrived in the Coromandel, Evan made us some quality G&Ts and then we played a few rounds of spicy uno before crashing.

In the morning we made brekkie and ate it out on the deck. We were all very impressed with the cute fish-themed dishware and fancy bread holder. Our first destination of the trip was Hot Water Beach, where mineral water that is deep in the ground is naturally heated and bubbles up through the sand. You can only experience these natural hot pools 2 hours before or after low tide.

We arrived towards the end of the window to see lots of abandoned pre-dug pools, so we were able to shop around before settling in. It was quite a weird experience and pretty hard to get comfortable as the pool water was generally too cold or boiling hot. We had to be careful not to burn ourselves! I’d still recommend going to witness the phenomenon, but if you want to comfortably relax in some warm water, go to an established hot pool or spa.

Next up was the famous Cathedral Cove. We drove up to the top to find that they had closed off all the parking, and we would need to park 10 minutes away and wait for a bus to shuttle us there. We didn’t have enough time for that, and Greg and I had already been to the Cove, so we dropped Evan, Al, and Porter off so they could experience it. In the meantime, Greg and I took a little walk through Te Pare Reserve where we got 360 degree views of Hahei beach. I was not dissaponted.

After scooping the gang from the Cove, we rushed to the SuperValue in Pauanui to get supplies for dinner. All I can say is that the store name is quite misleading; however, it did allow us to cook up a delicious Mexican spread. We had tortillas, creamy queso, guac, slaw, kumara, portobellos, chicken, and more. There was nothing else I could’ve wanted with that meal. We ended the night with a few rounds of Quiplash and a little Trivia Murder Party.

In the morning we had another nice brekkie out on the deck before heading out to Whangamata where we hired kayaks out the back of a small corner shop. The kayaks were half the price of all the other shops and the only catch is that you have drag them out to the estuary. From there we kayaked out to Whenuakura, or Donut Island, which is a wildlife sanctuary island just off the coast of Whangamata. It’s called donut island because it has a small cove you can kayak through to get to the center.

The center is composed of a small beach and a rocky coast. We explored for a while before heading back out on the water and seeing the other side of the island. On the route back we caught some waves with the yaks and had a great time doing it. Before we left Whangamata we had to take everyone to our favorite playground. Porter really enjoyed his time in the round swing.

We hit the grocery store on our way back to build up our supplies. Greg started a pasta sauce at the house before we wandered to the beach in Pauanui where we slung the frisbee and some of us took dips in the ocean. We made sure to snap a few pics during golden hour and capture our best plan b4 you party poses.

Once we built up a proper appetite, we walked back to the house and cooked the pasta to go with Greg’s veggie tomato sauce. It was another good night of quality home-cooked food. The meal was so good in-fact, that I got urged into betting that I could eat a whole 500 g bag of pasta. I stand by that bet. I’m sure there will be updates on this in the future.

After we cleaned up and had a few bevvies, we went back to the beach to watch the stars. This time we came prepared with blankets, sweaters, and a blow-up couch. We were able to see some galaxies, a few planets, and several shooting stars. It was so relaxing that a few of us fell asleep for a bit.

The next morning we made our last brekkie together composed of all the leftovers from the weekend before rushing out to the beach. I have always been a little afraid of waves so Al took me out and tried to coach me through dealing with them. This was the perfect learning beach as the waves weren’t too aggressive and you could walk deep into the ocean and still stand. Next, Greg taught me how to boogie board and I got to catch a few waves! It was awesome. I can’t wait to try it again.