Recount - my trip to the Coromandel

Day 78 of lockdown.

(I wrote this on google docs but I wanted to share it with you guys too!)

Welcome everyone,

I remember when I went to Coromandel. It’s one of my favourite places in New Zealand. There is so much stuff to do there, but the windy roads on the way there make it a pain to go there. But trust me, it’s worth it!

Fortunately, I don’t get carsick that easily, my dad doesn’t get carsick so long he's the driver. My mum and my sister are just fine. But, we were going there with our cousins and they got car sick really easily. Everyone fell asleep except for me and my dad. The car behind us (our cousins) was just vomiting and vomiting.

20 minutes later…

We finally made it out of the windy roads and just a straight road for the first time. 5 minutes later, we were straight back to windy roads.

3 hours later…

Day one - Exploring the new house

After suffering from windy roads and lots of vomits, we finally made it to Whitianga. We were trying to work out the new house, and there were a bunch of hiding places. It was really fun, but we didn’t play hide and seek. There were already board games set up over there, so we played Twister. I was surprised that I wasn’t the first one to get out, because I’m not flexible. At. All. 

Anyway, we had a fun time playing twister, and then we were picking our rooms. Me and Hasan, (one of my cousins that came along) got a room that looked like it was in the corner of the house. It was really nice but I couldn’t risk getting the top bunk, Hasan wanted the top bunk anyway.

We didn’t really do anything on the first day but play board games and explore the new house. Hasan and I were playing the board game Battleship, and it was way more fun than I actually expected. We ended up playing a whole bunch of games of battleship for like 2 hours straight. We then went to eat some food. After we ate, we went straight back to battleship. And then after that, we just walked around for a bit.

At night, we just watched Netflix and played some games of Mario Kart with each other until we fell asleep.

Day two - Cathedral Cove

On day two, we went to Cathedral Cove. We drove to a place to this bus station thingy that brings you to the track. Everyone was figuring the prices, while Hasan and I were just circling around and talking to each other.

2 minutes later…

They finally figured out the prices. Now, all we had to do was wait.

10 minutes later…

They finally came. Now to go there. There wasn’t really anything on the trip to the track.

7 minutes later…

We were finally there. After 19 minutes we finally made it to the walking track. Now for the hard part. The actual walk. It was really hot that day, and when I saw the first sign it said: Viewpoint: 35m. Me, not reading the word viewpoint, thought: Oh, this won’t be long. But when I was walking, the view looked very nice, and Hasan and I were way ahead of everyone. After 35 minutes, (and an extra 10 minutes waiting for everyone else) we made it to the viewpoint. I was confused because I thought I would already be there but we were only at a viewpoint.

We then took a photo with everyone else, and there was this random man who just walked in and stood with us for the photo and he was in it as well. Everyone was cool with it though. I thought it was pretty nice as well.

Ok, so I was pretty confused and then I saw another sign saying “Cathedral Cove: 45m”. I was just stunned by seeing that sign. 45 minutes is a long walk. Like, really long. (for me at least) the view was beautiful though, being high up and being able to see my destination from high up. I started to slowly descend down until I got all the way to Cathedral Cove. 

But I wasn’t there yet. I saw another sign that said “ Cathedral Cove: 25m”. I was just shocked. I have been walking for 45 minutes just for another sign to say I still have 25 minutes?! Even worse, it started to look like a maze. All these paths made me confused. Luckily, there was this sign that showed me and Hasan all the directions to the cove.

When we finally figured out how to navigate the sign, we were able to get to Cathedral Cove with ease. We finally made it to Cathedral Cove. It was this beautiful brace and it had this giant cove that looked like, well, a cathedral. It was so nice to be under a shade for once, and it felt nicer there. The sand felt softer than a blanket. Hasan and I didn’t pack any swimwear, and we were mad at ourselves for doing so. 

Turns out, you were allowed to swim there, and the water looked so nice and cold after that hot walk. We waited about 5 minutes for everyone else to come, and this rock looked big enough for me to stand on. I stood on the rock and I never looked behind me. I just broke the big rule of the sea - never turn your back on the sea. There was this huge wave headed towards the cove and it splashed on the rock I was standing on and it hit my back.

I was super wet and just thought “Oh screw this, I might as well just jump into the water with my current clothes. I just jumped in and Hasan joined me too. It was pretty fun but super heavy because we were not wearing clothes suited for the sea. But it was still pretty fun though!

Big regret. It was the biggest regret of my life. When we were going to walk all the way back up, I never thought of that when I was in the water. When I walked out of the water, the sand was sticky. It was sticking everywhere on me. It was even worse when I walked up. It was super exhausting and there was no view. Eventually, even Hasan got ahead of me.

At one point, I think I even went on the wrong track and then walked all the way back and then went on the right track. After a hard hour of walking wet with sand sticking everywhere and feeling very uncomfortable, I finally made it back. I sat under a tree then got some ice cream after realizing there was a stand nearby.

We waited for the bus to come back, and then it came back to pick people up. When we were finally home, I got a shower and changed. We also noticed that there was a beach super close to us, so we went there and just sat there. It was pretty nice just watching the sunset at the beach and calming. After that, we then went back to the house and Hasan and I just played even more games of the board game Battleship. After that, we just watched Youtube while eating noodles, and then once that was done, we just went to sleep.

Day three - Hot water beach

On day three, we drove to Hot water beach. This time, Hasan and I actually packed our swimwear. It was low tide though, so nobody was digging holes for the hot water.

I brought my bodyboard this time and Hasan brought his. My sister also brought her one and Hasan’s older brother, Najmi, brought his one as well. We then went into the water wearing proper gear, (not normal clothes)

I went into the water, waiting for the waves to come. It didn’t work that much because I was never in the right position and they were coming a little too early. My bodyboard is also a bit broken because the slick of it is chipped and it’s also kind of sticking out.

There was a big wave coming now. I got into my position and, I don’t know what type of grudge the sea holds against me, what did I ever do? I was thrown back onto the sand with the waves and then it slowly slipped away while I'm still rolling there in the ground.

I decided not to go in the water again, and since I wasn't going to, one of my OTHER cousins, Asked me if he could use my bodyboard. Now he's 17, (I think,) and my bodyboard looked tiny on him. When he went into the water, the bodyboard broke. Yes, it broke. It was snapped in half.

Since my bodyboard was broken, I couldn't risk going into the water. I think I used my sister's one instead.

There was this stream sort of thingy on the side of the beach and I was just chilling in that instead. Hasan and Najmi were also there. We were just swimming around and skipping stones, but the experience was still fun.

After that, we went home and ate some food, got changed, and we didn't really do anything interesting when we went back home.

Day 4 - the trip home

The next day, we went back home, and we had to go through all those windy roads again and suffer all the vomits. We even had to make a stop on the side of the road because everyone was vomiting so much. And one of the families got sidetracked by seeing the warehouse.

30 minutes later...

They finally came back. Now we could continue. The view of the trees looked very nice and there was a lot of oxygen. Other than that we just drove home. Until...

We went to Hunua Falls on the way home. We didn't swim there, since the drowning risk is high (according to the sign) but I just went in again with my normal clothes. It was fine anyway. 

There wasn't really anything apart from vomits, views and windy roads, but at one point there was a cliffside on the way home, so that was cool.

What a long recount! I've been working on this for 2 days! Consider this blog a special, since I don't normally write this long. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! (if you even made it here) Goodbye!