Beating the Rain

I took a walk down to the beach on Monday night and stood at the top of the dunes looking out over the calm, inky water of Mercury Bay. Though I could feel the chill penetrating my clothes, I was rooted to the spot in awe of the boundless beauty that lay before me. I was at total peace, enjoying the quiet sanctity of the beach. It was as comfortable as the silence that echoes between two true companions.

I went to the bone-carving studio yesterday morning to carve my own Maori necklace out of bone. It took me about 2 ½ hours, but was fun and very different. There was an array of Maori designs to choose from and I chose the fishhook. It symbolizes strength, authority, and leadership, and is part of a long Maori legend. It was an interesting activity that I would recommend to anyone if the opportunity ever arises.

Later on, when the weather started to get nice again, I decided to take a drive over to Cathedral Cove, a picturesque stretch of beach with a huge limestone arch. The beauty of Cathedral Cove was surreal. The sky and the bay seemed to melt into each other. My photos look like they’re pages torn from a “Most Scenic Landscapes” calendar. The weather in Whitianga is the most fickle I’ve ever seen, and as soon as I reached my car, it started to hail. It had been glaringly sunny just 5 minutes earlier. I should have expected it though. During my bone carving session that morning, it had poured then cleared five times over the course of 2 ½ hours. I’m lucky I got back to my car when I did and didn’t get stuck standing underneath the cove waiting for it to let up.

I stopped at a café on my way out of Hahei, where Cathedral Cove is located, to wait out the rain. I wanted to stop at Hot Water Beach that day as well so I was hoping the sun would show again soon. I had a quiche and a brownie at the café. The quiche, they had microwaved, and as most things that are microwaved, it was hot in some places and cold in others. The brownie was like most café desserts – it looked great in the case, but offered no appeal once on the plate or in my mouth for that matter. Just as I started on my brownie, the sun came out and I thought I might try to beat the rain to Hot Water Beach so I wrapped the rest in case I was in the mood for a dry, cakey brownie later on.

I made it to Hot Water Beach while the sun was still shining, and it was one of the strangest places I’ve ever seen. There were hordes of people on the beach digging massive, steaming holes in the sand and wading in the pools as if they were hot tubs. The water, which I wondered if it would actually be hot, was scalding and turned my feet an instant bright crimson when I stepped into a pool of it. I had brought my bathing suit, but the weather was too cold to expose anything but my feet and lower legs so I left it in the car. It seemed Hot Water Beach turned people to instant children. Full-grown adults were laying in the sandy water making water angels, one woman whom every time she dug a hole and put her foot in it guffawed with delight, the deep throaty laugh of a long-time smoker, and another man dug his hole so fast and intensely that he looked like a cartoon character in fast forward. If it were summer, or at least a little warmer, I probably would have joined the antics, but I stuck to my small pool of water. I wanted to stay longer but the rain had found me again, and I headed back to my hostel for the night.