We've got our own hot tub!

Monday, September 22nd – Monday, September 29th

This weekend’s trip took us to the west coast area known as the Waikato region. We’re trying to do some short trips on the weekends and plan our longer trips for some vacation time. So I spent Friday poring over guide books mapping out possible stops as we headed cross-country.

Cory’s colleagues have been great at giving suggestions and offering opinions on “places to see.” Many of them have lived in several locations around the country during medical school and residency training. They also seem to be a pretty active group – kayakers, skiers, riders, hunters – so they can offer advice on activities, too.

My colleagues seem to have traveled less extensively. Several have noted they’ve not been to places I’ve mentioned or not ever been to the South Island, which is, even by New Zealanders, known for its beauty. I’m not sure why this difference is present – if it is a different financial lifestyle or the lack of travel required by training or what.

But Cory’s well-traveled colleagues had some specific opinions when Cory told them I was planning a trip to Hamilton for our weekend. Now, what I meant by “Hamilton” was Hamilton proper and the geographic area around Hamilton. I’m still not good enough at my NZ geography to identify areas by their regional terms (ie, Waikato). For the most part, I need a larger city that I can locate on a map to know where we are referring. However, Cory’s co-workers took me at my word and, as one, bashed Hamilton.

Hamilton is about the same size as Tauranga and I sense, perhaps, a small mite of competitiveness between Taurangians and Hamiltonians. (I just made those labels up; no one else actually says that, by the way.) Otherwise, I can’t figure out why they would slam Hamilton. The Waikato river runs through it, with attractive walkways alongside the banks. There was a large city garden, with several themed gardens. The museum was great, with an excellent exhibit on the local Maori culture, completed with a refurbished waka (war canoe) that was used extensively in the area. So, I’m not sure what is so terrible about Hamilton.

But let’s back up… Cory and I took off Saturday morning after he rounded. He rounds in jeans here, which continues to boggle his mind. So he didn’t have to change when he got home; we just hopped in the car. The car, by the way, has been doing really well for us. There is a small “poing”-ing noise sometimes and I have to reattach part of the armrest cover frequently, but, now with an upgrade to a full-size spare in the trunk, Cory feels comfortable, and I am just happy it runs.

We headed west through the low-lying Kaimai mountain range. As we entered the region, Cory had a lightbulb moment… When the guys at worked referred to the Car-my-z, they were talking about the Kaimais (kai-my-z). The accent still gets us sometimes!

Continuing west, we entered Cambridge. The farmers market was in full-swing and the local arts festival was set up in the town hall. We hit both, after cruising through a local art and gift shop. (My new guideline: If, on the sign it says “gifs”, it is probably mostly souvenirs and we should skip it. I’m not sure this will actually work, but I’m hoping it will at least narrow our field.)

We drove on to Hamilton as the rain settled in. I’d hoped to go to the afore-mentioned parks and walk along the river, but we limited ourselves to a visit to the museum and a gallery.

Raglan was next on our list and where we planned to spend the night. Raglan is a small town on the coast and is known for its beaches and bays, where there is great surfing. If you’ve seen Endless Summer, some of it was shot at nearby Manu Bay (featured in Cory’s pics).

As we passed two antique cars on our way into town, Cory jokingly said, “I hope it’s not Raglan’s Oyster Fest weekend or something,” recalling our short trip through Whitianga during it’s fest. We pulled in to a hotel and found they were booked. At the second hotel, we got the same info. Remember, there are about 3 choices in Raglan in terms of accommodations, so we were now down to our last option. Why do we always do this? So we headed to the Harbor View Hotel and luckily got their last room. We had a bunk bed, a sink, and a small cupboard, in a room about half the size of my college dorm room. The rooms at the Harbor View are not en suite, which I’m not sure exists in the US. It didn’t really matter, as we didn’t anticipate spending much time there and were grateful not to have to drive back to Hamilton.

We wandered the town, dining at Vinnie’s, but leaving just before DJ Antonio started up. (Bummer.) The next morning, after adjusting our watches for Daylight Savings Time (were off Iowa time by 18 hours now), we had breakfast at the café across the street and then headed off. We’d planned to take some back roads down to Kawhia; the trip was scenic, according to the guide book, but on unsealed roads.

Living in Iowa, both Cory and I have done a reasonable amount of driving on unsealed roads, a.k.a. gravel. But, of course, these roads were a little different…single lane, often along the edge of steep hillside, sharply curving, with ruts and potholes to dodge. (Remember that “poing”ing noise the car makes?) An additional delight are the single-lane bridges; conveniently a sign indicates which direction is to yield.

We took a break after about an hour in to check out Bridal Veil Falls. They fall 55 meters and were pretty awesome. After stretching our legs, we headed on to Kawhia, where we grabbed lunch and then went in search of Ocean Beach. Ocean Beach is a blank sand beach with natural hot springs under the sections of the beach. During low tide, if you dig in the right spot, you can make yourself a little hot tub. It was pretty unbelievable. Our first attempt yielded nothing, but we moved on and found a better spot. The sand is actually warmer in these areas, which is a good indicator. You don’t have to dig far before the water is almost too hot. Several other folks were doing the same thing, and the smart ones had a shovel. Cory and I dug by hand (with him doing most of the digging, really; once I had a warm spot, I was satisfied) and made a pool that was probably 10 inches deep in the middle. Past that and the water burned your hands!

After lounging for a while, we mournfully gave up our hot tub and headed back to the car. Before we had even made the climb up the large dune, though, our little hole had been claimed by another family.

We headed back east towards home. The drive seemed much shorter and more relaxing as we finally found some straight, sealed roads and made our way to the Mount. It’s good to have a place to call home.