Rain and Shine at Hahei

Monday 14th February – Thursday 17th February: Hahei Beach

Hahei Beach was damaged by storms – the edge of the cyclones that devastated North Queensland had also hit this coast hard. Landslips had closed roads and paths: the proprietor of the Tatahi Backpackers glumly showed us uprooted plants spread down the hillside: half his garden had fallen onto the road below. Clearly, cutting roads and paths into a hillside destabilises it, and invites these landslides. The evidence was there in lots of places on the Coromandel. You might argue that (by definition) we only saw the bits where there were roads, and that landslips can take place anywhere: but in fact plenty of native bush and steep hills can be seen, all still secure. The weather was still a bit chancy, and the walk to Cathedral Cove was closed (it might be open again by now). So we went for a drive. We parked at Ferry Landing near Cook’s Beach to take the ferry across to Whitianga and see the little local museum, with its extensive collection of photos and information about early life in the logging camps. (Perhaps inevitably) there was a charming DVD about Captain Cook and the Maori, apparently scripted and performed by members of the historical society. A discreet subtext of the displays (not loud, but deep) was a sense of outrage over the waste involved when the huge, ancient kauri were dragged out of the mountains and sent off to furnish the Empire with fighting ships. There is now a re-planting programme, which is something, but many of those trees cannot be replaced even by centuries of growth.
http://www.mercurybaymuseum.co.nz/index.html
On Wednesday it rained on and off, but we got to Hot Water Beach just in time to paddle in the hot springs before the tide rose too high. Ravenous from all that and from a long time spent in the wonderful Moko Art Gallery there, we set off to find food – any food. Sweeping round a corner under dripping trees I spotted a rough and ready sign: Open fired Pizza  – winery.  The prospect seemed dubious, but indeed – quick decision –  down a short track we found a winery, with massive amounts of free tasting, excellent pizza, and a laid back atmosphere that anyone who lived through the sixties would recognise in a moment. Even the dark green paintwork and the Scottish waitress/cook sitting knitting a vast shawl looked authentic. I don’t for a moment think they try to create the atmosphere: they just are like that. We bought their wine and their Feijoa Liqueur, and wished we could have fitted many more bottles into our bags.

Purangi Winery

(Thanks to Kelly Chesterton’s blog for the picture.)
Back at Hahei, rain misted the hills and the out-of-focus low cloud was neither cool nor warm. The dark sea, hazy and flat, set up a rhythmic hushing monotone: a kind of white noise. I parked on the foreshore and watched the sea, wondering how best to photograph the rain. The birds had all vanished. Two kayaks circled and tipped endlessly where the murky grey-green waves were churning up sand, but my camera’s battery had flattened – the photos of islands in the rain, of headlands in the mist, would have to wait for some other year. But I swam in the cool grey waves under a light drizzle. Blissful.
On the last morning the sun came out, and brightened things up. Our useful host told us that some people had been through to Cathedral Cove anyway “using the old path”, so we decided to have a look. The path had returned itself to thick, dark-yellow clay, staining and very sticky, but there were indeed people coming back the other way. As we hesitated by the barricade and the ‘Path Closed’ sign, a Canadian clambering around it told us “It’s steep; you have to kind of rappel down; but it’s do-able.” The path itself was mostly quite easy going, but the last climb down into Mare’s Leg Cove was indeed steep: the topmost of the three flights of steps had completely washed away,

that's the top flight of steps, lying on the sand, right at the bottom

and the others were slippery from the muddy feet of the people who had been there before us.

two flights of steps were intact

We had explained the situation to a young German couple back at the barricade, and they decided to come along. They were agile down the cliff, and immensely kind – carrying my bag and offering a hand down.

behind those bright leaves is the tree root we used to rappel down the cliff

A New Zealander climbing back up showed us a slightly easier route, for the return: I imagine this was the ‘old path’ that the bloke at Tatahi had mentioned.

the alternative track up from Mare's Leg Cove

I’m noticing nationalities here because I really enjoy the multi-national feeling of Hahei, and of the folk whose sense of adventure led them along the forbidden path.

I mentioned the New Zealand attitude to rules in a previous blog. Here we found another interesting moment. Having disobeyed the sign telling us that Cathedral Cove was closed, we met some workmen on the way back, right by the barricade.
One looked at us (aggressively I thought) and said ‘Did you see the sign?’
‘Yes,’ Andrew answered (man to man).
‘And you chose to ignore it.’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
No further comment. I enjoyed the unemphasised assumption that we could exercise personal responsibility, and choice. He clearly thought we were stupid, but he allowed our right to be so.
We hustled back to Auckland in broad sunshine, to return the hired car on time.