Hamilton, New Zealand

After 2 weeks at the beach we moved to the small city of Hamilton for several days. That was a total shock in terms of road noise and traffic etc. Hotels here are small and usually close to the road. They don’t have double pane windows so you really hear traffic noises through the windows. They don’t have central heat either so you have to hope that you have been provided with a plug in heater. Fortunately they always have electric blankets on the beds!

Too high tide

We were hoping to dig our own hot water spa in the sands at Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel, and we had our beach sandals and swimsuits ready to go, but our visit there turned out to be at the wrong tide time and the springs were still under water. The hot water springs come out of the sand between the rock outcroppings, but are only accessible within 1.5 hours of low tide. If you don't travel with a shovel the café at the beach rents small shovels for $5.

Cathedral Cove

Whitianga is just over the hill from Simpson's Beach. From there one can take a boat tour around Mercury Bay, visiting the sea caves and rock formations. Cathedral Cove is a really beautiful white cliff formation that arches over the beach and into the bay. It is only accessible by boat or a long hike through the bush.

This one is for my shoe fetish relatives ( you know who you are). It’s a natural rock formation in the middle of Mercury Bay that looks just like a ladies high heeled boot. Unfortunately the whole top from another angle looks like it is ready to fall off in the next storm.

Treacherous rocks

Simpson’s Beach was a curious mixture of black sand above the high tide line and regular sand below. At the end of the beach was a rocky headland that I wanted to explore. We had to cross a stream coming from the hills to explore the rocks, and we both crossed it easily on the way over, but I was too confident coming back. It had conveniently placed rocks that I thought I could use to cross. Those rocks were very slippery and I slipped and fell in the water. Barry just laughed and made sure he got a photo. I had to get out by myself (he was still laughing). It was a rapid cool off from what had been a warm walk but then turned into a cold wet walk back!

Another beach

In New Zealand the spring school holiday is 2 weeks long, and everybody wants to go to the beach. The bach was booked by other family members, so we had to move. We loved the Coromandel area so much we moved to the nearby town of Whitianga and found a two bedroom holiday house at Simpson's Beach that was right on the beach. There were glorious sunrises and a fabulous view out the living room windows.

Weekend with dogs

Harley and Lilian came back to Matarangi to spend a weekend with us and brought their dogs Milo & Bessie. The dogs love going to the bach so much that they will jump into the car upon hearing the words Matarangi or bach. In Matarangi the leash laws only apply during the summer holidays, and only on the beach. The dogs are free to roam but don't go very far, and their friends come to call when they arrive.

Milo, the Labrador, loves to eat (anything) and would scurry to the kitchen whenever Barry or Lilian started to cook. We started to call him the sous-chef!

Working the time zones

Barry was very busy working on a grant application with colleagues at home during this time and the nearest internet café was 30 minutes away. Fortunately we had a mobile broadband card (it plugs into the laptop) so he was able to get on the internet as often as needed, even in a place as isolated as Matarangi. Because of the 16 hour time difference his colleagues in North America could work on their part of the grant during their day, and then when they were sleeping Barry would be writing his part!

Matarangi sunsets

Matararangi Beach has wonderful sunsets. We went down to the beach about 5:30 pm every day. It was before Daylight Savings Time started so sunset came early. We found a rock outcropping with a flat top at the end of the beach and brought our chairs to watch the sun set over the entire length of the beach and over the hills. It was absolutely stunning.

First few days

Our friends Harley & Lilian kindly offered us their family bach (cottage) and a loaner car in the unspoiled Coromandel Peninsula for our first 10 days. Then they picked us up at the Auckland airport after our arrival at 5:15 am! It was a four hour drive to the bach and Sheelagh was carsick from the winding roads.


The bach is in the beach town of Matarangi. It has a café & a variety store, and that’s all. There’s no restaurant so we did all our own cooking. Grocery shopping was a 30 minute drive over extremely winding roads (I got car sick again). Otherwise it’s just a few streets full of cottages, although it has a lovely beach. We walked that beach every day, sometimes twice a day.


Some of the lots in Matarangi had only a caravan or two, and a small shed type building. Our friends explained to us that if you buy a section (building lot) in Matarangi, you must build at least a bathroom in the first two years. So that's what people do. In this photo the bathroom is the small building on the left and the caravan is on the right. We saw one lot that had the bathroom and three caravans for use as bedrooms!