Hot Water Beach

One of Coromandel’s attractions is Hot Water Beach, where you go out at low tide, dig yourself a hole in the sand, and sit in the water which is heated by geothermal activity just at this one point on the coast. We’d checked the tide times, and equipped ourselves with a couple of shovels from the bach. Low tide wasn’t until midday, so we drove up the coast to a local Kiwi reserve we’d spotted the previous day, and took a walk around the loop track into the forest. The Department of Conservation gave the walk as one hour, but we covered it in less than half that, even stopping along the way to admire the trees and wildlife. We concluded that the DOC estimated times at the pace of the slowest, and that they’d found some guy with a Zimmer frame to time the walk. This was information that would come in handy later on in the week.

We had time on our hands, so drove around the long way to Whitianga and stopped there for a coffee before heading back to Hot Water Beach in time for low tide. There were upwards of 100 people doing the same thing – and this on a Monday, when we thought it would be less crowded than at the weekend – so we tried to find a suitable space to dig. Unfortunately, the dictum goes that if you find a spot where no-one else is digging, this is usually because it’s too hot there, so everyone crowds into one small area. Fortunately we found a hole that was about to be vacated by some Danes and were thus able to take freehold possession of a “pre-loved” hole in the sand. Some areas in it were quite hot, but with a bit of judicious swirling around we managed to get an even temperature. We undertook a bit of remedial digging to re-establish the walls, and sat down.

Then you just sit in your hole of hot water. After a while, this does become a bit tedious, so we didn’t stay very long. We washed off the sand in the sea, got changed and headed down the road to get some lunch.

The Purangi Winery had been recommended to us by Hayden the day before, as they not only sell wine but also create a range of liqueurs and spirits, and have a wood-fired pizza oven. We went to the tasting room and tried the wines – indifferent Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and then spirits, which included feijoa, boysenberry and plum liqueurs, gin, slivovicza and arraq, “Old China” ginger wine, and feijoa cider. Sadly I had to take only tiny sips of these as I had the car keys. 

Our host told us all about the history of feijoa and kiwi fruit in New Zealand, as well as giving random information on all the subjects under the sun, and showed us his weta (dead), Maori adzes and gizzard stones from moa that he’d collected. He was a bit of a character and talked nineteen to the dozen, and was very enthusiastic about all his products. We bought some feijoa liqueur to take with us, and went next door to order our pizza. We sat down in the sunshine, where we watched a life-and-death struggle between a cicada and the spider into whose web it had flown. Every time the spider came near the cicada kicked and struggled, and the spider was unable to inject its venom, and backed away. Eventually the spider got past the kicking and from then on it was only going to end one way. We debated whether to set the cicada free, but decided that nature must take its course. We wondered whether the spider would take his kill home proudly to Mrs. Spider, who would then say “and how d’you expect me to cook that?”

The pizzas arrived, and were delicious.