Carolina Kiwis: Waihi? Whine not.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Since Mark finally has some days off, we wanted to take a road trip and see some of NZ outside of Tauranga. We drove north about an hour to Waihi Beach through some beautiful countryside with rolling hills, farmland, vineyards, and scattered houses separated by towering hedgerows. This area of NZ looks sort of like coastal California meets rural England. We were on the main highway that goes to Auckland, but even it was only a winding two-lane road once we got outside Tauranga.

Ronan was in a whiny mood today, and we practically had to drag him to the car to go to the beach. Mark has a theory that kids (and most everyone else) are governed by the law of inertia. They avoid change like the plague, and always resist stopping whatever they are doing at the moment. He seemed to want to do anything other than go to the beach; "I want to go to the forest! I want to go to the park! I want to watch Spongebob!" Of course, once his toes hit the water, he wanted to do anything but leave the gorgeous beach. Waihi Beach is considered one of the safest beaches in NZ; it's wide and flat with fairly gentle surf. Even though it's a holiday weekend, there was hardly anyone else there. The shells are amazing, and we collected more beautiful nautilus shells than we know what to do with. The sand near the water is a very fine light gray, but near the dunes it's black and crusty from the area's volcanic activity. Ronan enjoyed playing with chunks of this sun-baked "hot lava," and, as always, jumping waves as they rolled onto the beach. He also found a piece of driftwood that he would wield like a lightsaber, slicing into each wave as it came towards him. Sherry made a discovery of her own - a talking porta-potty! Upon entering, as you slide the door closed, a voice tells you to push the "lock" button, then warns, "You have 10 minutes." A few seconds later, the Muzak version of "All You Need Is Love" starts playing. Sherry didn't stick around long enough to peruse the remainder of the potty playlist, nor to see what would happen after 10 minutes.

Ro & Sherry head for the water. Tuhua (Mayor) Island in the distance

Ro wielding his driftwood at Waihi Beach

Sherry wanted to head south to the Bowentown Headland at the end of Waihi Beach, a few klicks away. The large hills there used to be Maori Pa's (fortified hills used for defence in tribal wars), and it was easy to see why. Fairly steep, with commanding views of the surrounding area, it was just gorgeous. On the way, we stopped for refreshments at a beachside store, and found an "All Blacks" edition of Powerade; Mark saved the bottle.