New Zealand - Day 14

November 16, 2010

This morning we got up early so that we could wake the 45 minute hike out to Cathedral Cove and see it at low tide (very important for pictures). This location is very significant for two reasons. First, because it's very unique and beautiful. Second because it was used as the filming location for the gateway back into Narnia in the second movie, Prince Caspian. (See comparison below). We're all such big fans that we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see another film set!

The only bad thing about the cove is that it's pretty remote, so we had to hike up and down a couple of huge hills, tramping through the jungle, in order to get there. I was completely worn out by the time we got there but it was SO WORTH IT!

View of the area on our hike down there. That is not actually
Cathedral cove. It's on a similar rocky arm behind that one.
That just gives you an idea of how much we had to hike!

At first we kind of panicked because the big archway leading to the beach where they did the filming was roped off and a big warning sign about falling rock marred our view and spoiled our pictures. But Lisa does what she wants in these situations and so she just ducked under the rope and headed to the other side. After watching to make sure no rocks fell on her head, we followed suit.

The picture above is one of their concept paintings from
Prince Caspian. Below are our pictures. Pretty amazing, huh?

The beach itself is beautiful: pristine sand, turquoise water, unique sandstone formations and jagged cliffs that rise up to the bright green jungle above. When we first arrived it was still kind of overcast so the color in our pictures were not turning out as well as we had hoped. But then the sun came out, it warmed up and the colors around us became that same super-saturated hue we've come to love and expect from New Zealand.

On our way out we set up the tripod inside the cave and got a bunch of silly pictures of us silhouetted against the bright background. It was so much fun!

After our long hike back we were boiling hot and thirsty so we stopped at the general store for some snacks and drinks before heading back to the room to clean up and eat some lunch. A shower was a must for me since I tripped over the barrier rope on our way out of the cave and I fell flat on my back in the sand. It was so deep and soft that it didn't hurt at all (thank goodness!!) But I did get sand all down my pants which did NOT feel good walking back. haha.

After regrouping, we headed in to town and caught the ferry over to the neighboring city of Witianga to see some of the galleries of the local artists we kept hearing about. We had fun walking around in the sunshine and looking around in local shops but due to the bad economy right now many of the galleries and show rooms had closed down. Bummer. At least James and I managed to finish our Christmas shopping.

After an hour of shopping, we were all tired and Lisa was beyond burned-out. (Considering neither of us are shoppers, it's kind of ridiculous how much shopping we ended up doing on this trip.) In an attempt to perk back up we got some coffee and smoothies at the local Tides Cafe. The drinks were refreshing but not quite the pick-me-up we needed. Thankfully, we found an awesome playground that managed to zap Lisa back to life pretty quickly. The local parents and kids stared at us as we ran amok on all of the play equipment, but we honestly didn't care. It was too much fun!


After we had our fill of juvenile frivolity, we took the ferry back and drove up to a look-out where we could survey Mercury Bay, where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. He was the first European to discover New Zealand and is kind of a big deal there. The view was stunning with its arched coastline and teal water dotted with white sailboats.

Next we drove back toward Hot Water Beach because we were told they have a couple other galleries over there. The one we found was incredible! It was called the Moko Artspace and featured work from all kinds of local artists in almost every media imaginable: paintings, photography, wood work, glass, cement, copper, ceramic, jewelry, etc. We spent a long time looking around and round at everything and talking to the very knowledgeable saleswoman. Finally we all purchased something for friends and family. I bought a silver flower pendant and matching earrings. Lisa bought a bunch of jewelry as well as a decorative Maori paddle for their house. We thought this was pretty funny because Derick's call sign is OAR and he bought an oar.

To celebrate our great finds, we walked back down to the beach and played in the sand and surf. Then it was back to the hotel for an hour long ciesta before dinner.

A hilarious but accurate portrait of these two. ;^P

We decided to try the other restaurant (since there are only 2 in town). It's a small winery and restaurant called Purangi Winery. We had been warned about the owner - that he's harmless but likes to talk a lot. This was very true. He invited us into the wine show room, poured 6-9 shots of different types of wine and alcohol before we could even say anything, and then launched into a comical and slightly crass history of the region. He was hilarious. We were impressed that he was able to guess whether we were from America or Canada based on how we said the word "badminton". (Apparently we in the U.S. always drop the n.)

Most importantly, he was able to answer a very important question that we'd been puzzling over this whole trip: which was named first, the kiwi bird or kiwi fruit? He said that it was definitely the bird. Kiwi fruit actually comes from China and was called Chinese Gooseberries for a long time. But then when the McCarthy era set in after WWII, New Zealand wanted to continue exporting their fruit to the U.S. and decided it would be prudent to drop the association with the red state. Thus, they named it after the cute and fuzzy brown birds that wander around on the island and the name stuck. I thought he might be pulling our leg but we googled it later and turns out the story is true!

Soon after that we managed to order 2 wood fired pizzas and made our way outside to one of the tables underneath the trees. The pizzas were good, but again these New Zealand "large" 14 inchers are far too small for our American appetites and so we ordered one more, as well as a large bucket of chips (fries) for good measure. I think the locals were both amused and offended by our loud conversations and by the huge amount of food we consumed. The suspicion that they were watching us was confirmed when we had difficulty backing out of the parking lot on our way out. Many of them were bent over double laughing at us as we made a 14 point turn only to go out the in. Ah well, at least we were amusing dinner entertainment.

If you can believe it, we were STILL hungry when we left so we decided to stop back in to the restaurant at The Church and order dessert. We sat on the outdoor patio this time and enjoyed some chocolate mousse martinis. Oh man - that thing was probably SO bad for me but it was SO GOOD! We have eaten incredibly well on this trip.

The night was still young so we walked over to the lounge and played a game of scrabble before heading to bed. Somehow we thought that playing a board game would be nice and interactive, but really all we did was stare at our tiles in silent (and in the boy's case - angry) concentration for an hour. Ah well, better than nothing!