08.28.08: From Auckland, we drove to the Coromandel Peninsula and headed to a place called Hot Water Beach. The New Zealand Surf Guide said there was a campground there, but our camping atlas didn’t show one. We were hopeful when we saw the little tent picture on the road sign pointing that way, but couldn’t find anything when we got into town. The town itself was very cute. There were probably only three businesses, a café, a market and a surf shop, and the rest were cute little cottage style houses mixed with modern-designed houses nestled on the cliffs in the cove surrounding the beach. Again like Muriwai, it reminded me of Aptos, but less country and more as it was being re-built with nicer houses in the 90’s. We stopped to ask one of the locals about the campground and found that it had closed a year or two ago. Also while we were talking to him, we found out that a swell had just hit the day before. That day, the waves were barely breaking. Just our luck! And, as Sean would say, “We should have been here yesterday!”
Considering how beautiful the weather was and I hadn’t used our new board yet, I decided to paddle out and catch a few ripples. This beach was named one of the 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World and that it was. After I got out of the water, we watched the sun set while some guy fished at the shoreline with a bottle of wine. We thought “What a life! What else do you need besides a bottle of wine and a fishing pole?!?” Finding another campground was not an issue. There was one a couple kilometers down at the next beach called Hahei.
The next morning, we headed back to Hot Water Beach. But this time, not for waves. New Zealand is literally a hot bed of geothermal activity and Hot Water Beach is one example of this. Underneath the sand, there are reservoirs of water that are heated by hot volcanic rock below that. So on a low tide, you can dig a hole in the sand and, if you’re lucky, it’ll fill with hot water. As we approached the beach, two of the three local shops advertised they had spades for hire (shovels for rent). We should have grabbed some. Instead, we went straight for the beach to check it out. There were already several holes dug, some of which had bathers sitting in them and others were empty. It took some testing to see which holes had the right temperature. Some of them were too hot and others were cold. Finally I found a good one that wasn’t too hot for Kailani. The hole was shallow, so I dug deeper with my hands as I sat in it. After a while, I got pretty good at shimmying my feet and butt into the sand to get deeper into the water. Kailani had a great time jumping in and out of the holes and playing in the sand. Sean made friends with another bather, Manu from Hamilton. The next thing I knew, they were picking mussels off of a 10-15 foot rock that sat about 10 yards out in the ocean. Sean also met Manu’s friends, who were out getting paua (abalone) and sea urchins (don’t remember the Maori name for that one). After learning that you didn’t even need to dive for the paua, Sean ended up trying his hand at it, but no luck. The tide had started to come in by then. Manu’s friend was also nice enough to give Sean a couple urchins for us to try. For how big and spiny they are, it’s surprising how little you actually eat from them. But, they tasted good.
We decided to leave for the campground and cook the mussels. Unfortunately, we had no more white wine. I looked in our atlas and found a nearby winery. As we got close to Purangi Estates winery, I had some uneasy feelings about being in a pretentious wine tasting room after spending my day rolling around in the sand. But as we walked up to the building, it was so rustic that I was surprised that it was still standing. We were also the only one’s there, so no worries. We met Danny who was doing the pouring in the tasting room. I believe it was his family who owned the winery. He started talking with his fast New Zealand tongue, and we could only get 50% of what he was saying. Somehow, I caught something about surfing and fishing at Hot Water Beach yesterday, and then realized he was talking about me. Ah yes, who else would it be but the guy fishing with the bottle of wine? He was a very interesting guy to talk to, not only about wine, but he had some interesting stories and tidbits about all things native and the history about New Zealand, feijoas, Maori and kauri trees to name a few. And, he wasn’t afraid to tell the truth either. The winery made a small selection of wines from grapes, but also made quite a few fruit liqueurs. Mostly, because the growing conditions on the Coromandel Peninsula are really not the best for a huge variety of grapes, but there are other fruits that are grown that they can ferment. The feijoa liqueur seemed to be a popular one. After talking with Danny for a while about the quality of what we put in our mouths nowadays, I finally asked him if they use any sprays on their grapes. As it turns out, they’ve been growing organically for over 20 years, before “certified organic” was even invented. They just haven’t bothered to pay to be certified, probably because they are such a small winery. So after a fun visit, we left with some Sauvignon Blanc for our “Hottie Rock Mussels” and a bottle of Merlot Malbec. Back at our campground, the mussels were great and I had some Pitango Tomato, Basil and Ricotta Risotto to go with it. This place definitely has our vote as one of our favorite spots!
The next day, we hit the road again, this time heading a couple hours south down the coast. As it got closer to lunch time, we were getting hungry. We ended up stopping in the town of Bethlehem at the Mills Reef winery. I read that they had a café, so thought we could do some tasting and lunch. This winery ended up being the exact opposite atmosphere as the last. It had some gorgeous gardens and nice outdoor pavilion area and their “café” seemed more like THE place to go for a weekend brunch celebration. There were several well-dressed large groups eating there, probably celebrating birthdays or something. Luckily, we got a table outside and away from the crowds. I got the macadamia and panko crumbled fish and chips and Sean got a dish with fish, shrimp and scallops, prepared three different ways. It was all very good. Kailani wasn’t hungry, but played around in their pavilion area (as long as we could encourage her to do so). The waitress was nice enough to bring a few tastings of their best wines to our table because I knew it was probably not going to be a good idea to spend any bit of time with Kailani in their tasting room. We ended up with a couple glasses as well as leaving with a bottle of their 2007 Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris Reserve.
I’m usually a red wine drinker, but I am growing fond of the New Zealand whites, at least so far. They seem to have more flavor and complexity. Or, perhaps there is more seafood around here to go with it. I’m not sure. I seem to have better luck with the bottles from the wineries, rather than ones from the grocery store. I’m sure it’s for several reasons. However, it sounds like a good idea to make it a point to get wine from there. If anything it’s more fun that way!
Considering how beautiful the weather was and I hadn’t used our new board yet, I decided to paddle out and catch a few ripples. This beach was named one of the 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World and that it was. After I got out of the water, we watched the sun set while some guy fished at the shoreline with a bottle of wine. We thought “What a life! What else do you need besides a bottle of wine and a fishing pole?!?” Finding another campground was not an issue. There was one a couple kilometers down at the next beach called Hahei.
The next morning, we headed back to Hot Water Beach. But this time, not for waves. New Zealand is literally a hot bed of geothermal activity and Hot Water Beach is one example of this. Underneath the sand, there are reservoirs of water that are heated by hot volcanic rock below that. So on a low tide, you can dig a hole in the sand and, if you’re lucky, it’ll fill with hot water. As we approached the beach, two of the three local shops advertised they had spades for hire (shovels for rent). We should have grabbed some. Instead, we went straight for the beach to check it out. There were already several holes dug, some of which had bathers sitting in them and others were empty. It took some testing to see which holes had the right temperature. Some of them were too hot and others were cold. Finally I found a good one that wasn’t too hot for Kailani. The hole was shallow, so I dug deeper with my hands as I sat in it. After a while, I got pretty good at shimmying my feet and butt into the sand to get deeper into the water. Kailani had a great time jumping in and out of the holes and playing in the sand. Sean made friends with another bather, Manu from Hamilton. The next thing I knew, they were picking mussels off of a 10-15 foot rock that sat about 10 yards out in the ocean. Sean also met Manu’s friends, who were out getting paua (abalone) and sea urchins (don’t remember the Maori name for that one). After learning that you didn’t even need to dive for the paua, Sean ended up trying his hand at it, but no luck. The tide had started to come in by then. Manu’s friend was also nice enough to give Sean a couple urchins for us to try. For how big and spiny they are, it’s surprising how little you actually eat from them. But, they tasted good.
We decided to leave for the campground and cook the mussels. Unfortunately, we had no more white wine. I looked in our atlas and found a nearby winery. As we got close to Purangi Estates winery, I had some uneasy feelings about being in a pretentious wine tasting room after spending my day rolling around in the sand. But as we walked up to the building, it was so rustic that I was surprised that it was still standing. We were also the only one’s there, so no worries. We met Danny who was doing the pouring in the tasting room. I believe it was his family who owned the winery. He started talking with his fast New Zealand tongue, and we could only get 50% of what he was saying. Somehow, I caught something about surfing and fishing at Hot Water Beach yesterday, and then realized he was talking about me. Ah yes, who else would it be but the guy fishing with the bottle of wine? He was a very interesting guy to talk to, not only about wine, but he had some interesting stories and tidbits about all things native and the history about New Zealand, feijoas, Maori and kauri trees to name a few. And, he wasn’t afraid to tell the truth either. The winery made a small selection of wines from grapes, but also made quite a few fruit liqueurs. Mostly, because the growing conditions on the Coromandel Peninsula are really not the best for a huge variety of grapes, but there are other fruits that are grown that they can ferment. The feijoa liqueur seemed to be a popular one. After talking with Danny for a while about the quality of what we put in our mouths nowadays, I finally asked him if they use any sprays on their grapes. As it turns out, they’ve been growing organically for over 20 years, before “certified organic” was even invented. They just haven’t bothered to pay to be certified, probably because they are such a small winery. So after a fun visit, we left with some Sauvignon Blanc for our “Hottie Rock Mussels” and a bottle of Merlot Malbec. Back at our campground, the mussels were great and I had some Pitango Tomato, Basil and Ricotta Risotto to go with it. This place definitely has our vote as one of our favorite spots!
The next day, we hit the road again, this time heading a couple hours south down the coast. As it got closer to lunch time, we were getting hungry. We ended up stopping in the town of Bethlehem at the Mills Reef winery. I read that they had a café, so thought we could do some tasting and lunch. This winery ended up being the exact opposite atmosphere as the last. It had some gorgeous gardens and nice outdoor pavilion area and their “café” seemed more like THE place to go for a weekend brunch celebration. There were several well-dressed large groups eating there, probably celebrating birthdays or something. Luckily, we got a table outside and away from the crowds. I got the macadamia and panko crumbled fish and chips and Sean got a dish with fish, shrimp and scallops, prepared three different ways. It was all very good. Kailani wasn’t hungry, but played around in their pavilion area (as long as we could encourage her to do so). The waitress was nice enough to bring a few tastings of their best wines to our table because I knew it was probably not going to be a good idea to spend any bit of time with Kailani in their tasting room. We ended up with a couple glasses as well as leaving with a bottle of their 2007 Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris Reserve.
I’m usually a red wine drinker, but I am growing fond of the New Zealand whites, at least so far. They seem to have more flavor and complexity. Or, perhaps there is more seafood around here to go with it. I’m not sure. I seem to have better luck with the bottles from the wineries, rather than ones from the grocery store. I’m sure it’s for several reasons. However, it sounds like a good idea to make it a point to get wine from there. If anything it’s more fun that way!
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