After my amazing trip to the Urewera I went back to Auckland with Cee Cee and Paul and stayed with Cee Cee for couple of days. They're a great pair and I laughed all day and night, and I had my first feeling of being a cat person, as well as a dog person.
I caught the nakedferry from Auckland straight to Coromandel to get picked up by my new hosts, Annette and Tim. I've always liked approaching places by water (even though my stomach hasn't always agreed) because of the great views you get. This ferry, however, didn't depart until 6:30pm so it was already dark before we left. I sat outside the whole way there, a surprisingly quick 2 hour ride, and watched intently for the lights of Coromandel to appear. Coming up to 8:30pm I knew I should be seeing lights of land but where ever I looked there was just endless black, until finally I see a single small light in the distance. We float right up to it and I see that we're about 100m from the shore at the end of a very long jetty, with about 3 cold people huddling under the one small light, as if for warmth. A crew man jumps over, ties us to the jetty and lays a wet piece of wood between it and the boat. I see a few of us waiting to get off look a bit cautiously at this means of support, but it takes is all ashore without incident. The 3 cold people step aboard and the boat reverses out and takes it's lights with it. Only now do we (about 15 passengers) realise how little this one light actually provides. The walkway seems to extend about 3 metres into the darkness, then disappears. I have only the brief flash of having seen the shore to remind me that it's only 100metres away, but there are no lights on the land at all and I'm supposed to be picked up. Where are they?
We all stood rather nervously, not speaking nor venturing into the dark for what seemed like minutes in end, until I remembered I had a small keyring-sized torch in my pocket. Suddenly I was the chosen person to first 'walk the plank' and I headed down with the nervous hoard following uncomfortably close behind. I've not been scared of the dark since I was very little, but it seemed a fear that easily came back to many of us there that night! As it turned out, once we'd gotten to the end of the jetty, it turned behind some rocks and up a hill, to reveal a car park (unlit) where I host was just parking.
Tim came to pick me up in a mail van with his grandson Jarren, and explained to me that he does the post for Coromadel up to Port Charles, hence the van. Annette was waiting back at home and they as a family were really welcoming and friendly. Jarren was only there for a couple of days but he was a great, clever young lad with a keen eye for archery. He and Tim would go out to kill rabbits with their bows and arrows, which to me seems an act of great skill! I had the most luxurious set up with Tim and Annette. I had a whole separate building to myself, including a living room, kitchen, bathroom, wash room, bedroom and balcony. Compared to my recent sleeping locations, this may as well have been a hotel! I was tasked with painting their outside seating area and I got a little more than a third of the way done. I went on the post run with Tim one morning and saw loads of the beautiful surrounding area to Coromandel, it really is a paradise They both treated me really well and I could happily have stayed with them for longer, but my new hosts in Tapu were already booked.
I caught the nakedferry from Auckland straight to Coromandel to get picked up by my new hosts, Annette and Tim. I've always liked approaching places by water (even though my stomach hasn't always agreed) because of the great views you get. This ferry, however, didn't depart until 6:30pm so it was already dark before we left. I sat outside the whole way there, a surprisingly quick 2 hour ride, and watched intently for the lights of Coromandel to appear. Coming up to 8:30pm I knew I should be seeing lights of land but where ever I looked there was just endless black, until finally I see a single small light in the distance. We float right up to it and I see that we're about 100m from the shore at the end of a very long jetty, with about 3 cold people huddling under the one small light, as if for warmth. A crew man jumps over, ties us to the jetty and lays a wet piece of wood between it and the boat. I see a few of us waiting to get off look a bit cautiously at this means of support, but it takes is all ashore without incident. The 3 cold people step aboard and the boat reverses out and takes it's lights with it. Only now do we (about 15 passengers) realise how little this one light actually provides. The walkway seems to extend about 3 metres into the darkness, then disappears. I have only the brief flash of having seen the shore to remind me that it's only 100metres away, but there are no lights on the land at all and I'm supposed to be picked up. Where are they?
We all stood rather nervously, not speaking nor venturing into the dark for what seemed like minutes in end, until I remembered I had a small keyring-sized torch in my pocket. Suddenly I was the chosen person to first 'walk the plank' and I headed down with the nervous hoard following uncomfortably close behind. I've not been scared of the dark since I was very little, but it seemed a fear that easily came back to many of us there that night! As it turned out, once we'd gotten to the end of the jetty, it turned behind some rocks and up a hill, to reveal a car park (unlit) where I host was just parking.
Tim came to pick me up in a mail van with his grandson Jarren, and explained to me that he does the post for Coromadel up to Port Charles, hence the van. Annette was waiting back at home and they as a family were really welcoming and friendly. Jarren was only there for a couple of days but he was a great, clever young lad with a keen eye for archery. He and Tim would go out to kill rabbits with their bows and arrows, which to me seems an act of great skill! I had the most luxurious set up with Tim and Annette. I had a whole separate building to myself, including a living room, kitchen, bathroom, wash room, bedroom and balcony. Compared to my recent sleeping locations, this may as well have been a hotel! I was tasked with painting their outside seating area and I got a little more than a third of the way done. I went on the post run with Tim one morning and saw loads of the beautiful surrounding area to Coromandel, it really is a paradise They both treated me really well and I could happily have stayed with them for longer, but my new hosts in Tapu were already booked.
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