Kate Liggett, ISA Intern Abroad, New Zealand
To finish off my fourth week in New Zealand, I planned a relaxing trip to the Coromandel Peninsula with some of the other interns I'm living with. Little did we know, this weekend trip would take more than a few unexpected turns.
The Coromandel Peninsula is about 2 hours east of Auckland. We rented 2 cars for Saturday and Sunday and an Air B&B for Saturday night. Our first stop was supposed to be the trailhead for a hike called the Pinnacles. Little did we know, my car would get separeted from the other and my navigator's GPS would get us terribly lost, so lost that we ended up in an organic orchard on the other side of the peninsula.
The rest of our group started the hike while we attempted to find the trailhead. When we got there, we began the 4 hour hike to the top. However, we were only able to hike for about two and a half hours before turning around because it was raining very hard making parts of the trail flood. We wanted to get back down before dark. There wasn't much of a view, but I still had a great time and enjoyed the exercise.
We joined up with the other group after they completed the hike and went to our Air B&B. Everyone was hoping for a great view in the morning because our house was so close to the beach. Little did we know, we were in the middle of a terrible rain storm that would not end until late Sunday night. The next morning, our plan was to go to the Hot Water Beach to dig ourselves a hot pool and soak in some warmth during the bad weather. We managed to dig a hole big enough for 5 people to stand in and the water was freezing cold. After this failed attempt, half of the group was ready to head back for Auckland. The rest of us were able to convince them to split into two groups so they could leave or get food while we went to Cathedral Cove.
Cathedral Cove was absolutely beautiful despite the bad weather. Once we got to the cave it felt like stepping into Narnia (at least for those of us in the group that had seen Prince Caspian). The four of us that went thoroughly enjoyed the cave, standing under a freezing waterfall and taking a very brief dip in the ocean. Little did we know, as we played in the cove and the other group sat in a cafe, the rain was creating more problems for us.
The next morning, since everyone was already going to miss work, we decided to make one more attempt at the Hot Water Beach. This time, the sun was shining and we were able to rent a shovel for $5 from a nearby cafe. As we waited for the tide to go down, we walked to the end of the beach and back. Once the tide had gone down significantly, we found a hot spot in the sand and started digging. After about 30 minutes, we were finally able to lie in our hot pool and soak up some warmth. It was a very satisfying end to the unexpected long weekend. Despite all the issues we faced this weekend, I still had a great time and learned a lot about problem solving on-the-go.
To finish off my fourth week in New Zealand, I planned a relaxing trip to the Coromandel Peninsula with some of the other interns I'm living with. Little did we know, this weekend trip would take more than a few unexpected turns.
The Coromandel Peninsula is about 2 hours east of Auckland. We rented 2 cars for Saturday and Sunday and an Air B&B for Saturday night. Our first stop was supposed to be the trailhead for a hike called the Pinnacles. Little did we know, my car would get separeted from the other and my navigator's GPS would get us terribly lost, so lost that we ended up in an organic orchard on the other side of the peninsula.
The rest of our group started the hike while we attempted to find the trailhead. When we got there, we began the 4 hour hike to the top. However, we were only able to hike for about two and a half hours before turning around because it was raining very hard making parts of the trail flood. We wanted to get back down before dark. There wasn't much of a view, but I still had a great time and enjoyed the exercise.
Cathedral Cove was absolutely beautiful despite the bad weather. Once we got to the cave it felt like stepping into Narnia (at least for those of us in the group that had seen Prince Caspian). The four of us that went thoroughly enjoyed the cave, standing under a freezing waterfall and taking a very brief dip in the ocean. Little did we know, as we played in the cove and the other group sat in a cafe, the rain was creating more problems for us.
We met back up with the other group to plan our return home. The guys in the group wanted to get back pretty quickly while we elected to take the scenic route. We got in our cars and drove off in seperate directions. Little did we know, every road out around us was blocked by either a flood or a landslide. We were trapped.
After running into a flooded road we were finally able to get a hold of the guys to find that their way out was blocked as well. We decided to drive back into the nearest town to make plans for the night after realizing the roads wouldn't be cleared until the next day. We found a reasonably priced holiday resort right on the beach with two more rooms left to settle in for the night. By the time we got the rooms the rain had stopped. Little did we know, the extra night on the peninsula would be a blessing in disguise. The night ended up being perfect for star gazing on the beach. We were able to see some neon blue spots in the tide cause by bioluminescent plankton. I even figured out how to take pictures of the stars with my new camera. (Little did I know, my lens cap was on for the first 15 minutes of night sky picture attempts.)
