active transport

Interior of the Coromandel

Friday evening and the R5 (car) was packed with wetsuit, running gear, books, and one change of clothes.  My destination? The Coromandel Peninsula, a mere 2 hours from Auckland, but a world away.  Visible from Auckland, the Coromandel is surprisingly unpopulated.  On the near side, it forms the southern edge of the Hauraki Gulf, where Auckland harbour sits.  The other side is the northern edge of the Bay of Plenty and the Pacific Ocean.  The middle of the Coromandel is predominately uninhabited forest and hills with hiking trails.  It is known for its spectacular beaches, islands, geothermal areas, including Hot Water Beach, where you can dig your own private hot tub in the sands.   I donned casual, driving attire and gleefully tossed the scrubs in the laundry hamper in the "theatre" (OR) changing room and headed for the car.

Pauanui and the Tairoa River

I must confess that the reason I travel on the weekends is as much of an escape as it is adventure.  I escape my lonely apartment and give myself a contrived existence.   I suppose travel is always contrived at some level.  As a wise, dear friend said, traveling is as much a journey of introspection as it is the extroverted experience.  This weekend was slightly different, however.  My escape to the Coromandel included a visit to a new friend.

A few weeks previously, my son's "mate", Leslie Kinson, had sent an open invitation from Facebook to visit her new home in Pauanui.  I think I have been the only one to take her up on it, thus far.  Leslie is a beautiful young woman and free spirit who made her way to NZ last year on her own.  I first met Leslie when she came to Washington to hike a section of the PCT with Morgan and five others.  An artist, designer, with a joie de vivre, she had invited me (twenty five years her senior) to visit her at her home in Pauanui.  She lives with Ian, her fiance, in a three bedroom house a short walk from the beach. 

Pauanui: Pacific and the Tairoa River meet

Pauanui means "big paua", or abalone, in maori. It lies on the east coast of Coromandel where the mouth of the Tairoa River meets the Pacific and forms a small sandy point. The town of Tairoa is easily visible across the bay.  Around the sandy point, the Pacific rolls in, creating a surfer's paradise.  In winter months, Pauanui has a population of about 800, which swells to 5000 in the summer, augmented by Aucklanders on vacation.  Mid-November is still spring in NZ, while the population of Pauanui was certainly increasing, most of the houses still remained empty.  I was blessed with a weekend of quiet, warmth and sun.

Beach and the hill for which the town in named in the distance that guards Pauanui

After breakfast with Leslie and Ian on Saturday morning, I set out at 10 am with my wetsuit, goggles and cap in my lightweight backpack in search of the perfect swimming location. I considered swimming across the small  bay at the mouth of the river to the town of Tairoa.  However, it became clear that it was much to shallow when I came across four folks wading across the bay with their cooler.  The search for the perfect swimming beach continued.

Around the point, the waves become bigger as the Pacific Ocean meets the sands of the Pauanui beach.  Surfers dotted the wave crests and I enjoyed watching them work up and down the waves. If I lived here, I would learn to surf, despite the recognition that my body would protest more from the spills as I age.  Age.  It is interesting to be the guest of my children's contemporaries.  Lovely to remember that time in my life and to witness others embark on adulthood, the world at their feet.  What will their future hold? What has the world left our children, now grown to adulthood?  What reins will they hold? Loose, tight?  How will they steer our planet?  I enjoyed being the guest, enjoyed not being in charge. 

I walked to the end of the surfer's beach and found a trail that wound around the edge of the water to Tabletop, a rock formation where the ocean surged over old lava worn into odd formations of suprisingly square cathedrals and small pools of ocean life.  The trail eventually climbed, and I followed, not knowing where it would lead.  I reached the summit of Pouanui,, the hill that guards the town.   A lovely vista of the Coromandel lay before me.

By the time I reached the bottom, it was hot and I had been walking for nearly 4 hours.  The waves beckoned and I donned my wetsuit and swam through the waves, behind the surfers, enjoying the cool salty waters of the Pacific.  I swam down the beach and back.  Not long, and not fast.  I rode the waves back into shore and walked home, tired and hungry.   Leslie cooked a lovely fish dinner, roast vegetables, asparagus, and silverbeet.  Sleep came easily that night!

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Looking back at Tairoa

Sunday morning I woke early, readied myself for a brief drive to Cathedral Cove beach, on Ian's recommendation. This auspicious weekend holds the day Aung San Suu Kyi was released (again) from confinement.  I considered what it would be like to wake, as she must have, knowing for the first time in many years, freedom awaited.  My occasional self-pitying loneliness dwarfs to meaninglessness in the face of 15 years of confinement. Suu kyi's incredible indomitable spirit amazes me.  To stay involved, well-read, and vibrant after such isolation is a testament to her strength and will. I vowed to continue to learn,  to grow and to read, in an attempt to be aware and involved in the world. 

still Pauanui, afraid my phone was out of batteries for the Cathedral Cove run...

I drove the coastal road to Cathedral Cove, right past busy Hot Water Beach, with most of the traffic on the road turning in that direction. Donning my vibram five fingers for the second time in as many days, I took to the trail that led to a variety of beaches and coves along the way. Vibrams, or VFF, are an odd looking shoe reminiscent of toe socks, but sport a rubber sole that easily negotiates sand, mud, and water. I enjoy running in them on trail runs, but don't usually take to the streets in them.

  I arrived at Cathedral Cove to find a pristine beach with an archway to another beach. Rock formations  towered like monuments to  Maori gods.  My wesuit insulating me from the cool waters, I leisurely swam around these monuments to the beaches on either side.  Kayaking groups came through from Hahai to tour Cathedral cove. What a lovely place to swim, with a wide gentle trail that negotiates the hills leading to the beach to run on.

 What a divine treat, to experience the Coromandel as a multi-sport weekend, without the pressure of competition and on the spur of the moment, through such spectacular land.  I hope to find more adventures with a similar theme: to tour new places by active transport (no, I am not talking cellular biology!), but by paddle, pedal, surf board, or by foot.  I welcome suggestions!