Coromandel - The Hitch Hiking Experience

I had a few days to kill until my haircut on Monday, and I was not about to hang around Auckland much longer. I didn't want to start heading towards Wellington too soon either, as I'm trying to time it so that I will be there for the world premiere of the LOTR III - Return of the King on December 1. So, I decided to go to Coromandel, which is an easy trip there and back, but not part of my NZ bus pass.

Again, I was trying to be cheap. Apparently, it is quite difficult to get around the Coromandel area without a car. I didn't want to go on a tour tho - I am avoiding them like the plague. What I did was buy a one way ticket out to Coromandel town, in hopes of meeting people with cars along the way who will give me lifts around. Or, maybe I will try hitch hiking....

Lucky for me, as soon as I arrived in the Lion's Den hostel, there were a group of people going up to the tip of Coromandel to do the walk up there. I jumped in on the offer to come along right away and I was on my way. After 2 gruesome hours of drive up windy, gravel roads, we came to the start of the walkway and hiked 1.5 hrs to the viewpoint, and another 1.5 hrs back.

On the following morning, I managed to catch a ride to Whitianga with Brendon, a guy who plans to start his own 5 day tour between Auckland and Wellington. He plans to call it Adodgy Tour.
I arrived quite early in Whitianga since Brendon had a long drive today and wanted an early start. As quickly as I checked into On The Beach Hostel, I was out and about. I took the passenger ferry across the bay to the side where all the popular beaches are. However, they are still a good 10+ km or so out of the way so I could not walk it. A bus there and back would cost me $20-$30. Quite overpriced in my opinion. The owner at the hostel seemed to encourage hitch hiking. I've been advised against it, and the smart side of me tells me that I should not do it, but the cheap and adventurous side of me says, "Heck, let's give it a try." I'm sure it was quite stupid for a solo female to hitch hike, but I think the martial arts experience and knife I carry around with me gave me some sort of, perhaps false, confidence.

I did not enjoy hitch hiking. I found it to be quite demoralizing, not to mention I don't have a whole lot of patience for waiting around. About six cars whizzed by me in about 10 minutes time as I held out my thumb. Everyone has told me that hitch hiking in New Zealand was easy. I'm an innocent looking girl at that. Surely I'd get picked up right away. Or so I thought. Everyone just kept going by. I felt rejected. Did I look dodgy or something? What was I doing wrong? I was in the middle of nowhere, far from where I want to be, and I was not about to walk it all. Then I saw a car, with and old, unsuspecting, man inside. He stopped for a view of the beach. Here was my chance. I walked over to the car and as he was about to pull out, I flagged him down and pretty much forced him to give me a ride. "You're going this way right? Can I have a lift?" I was dropped off at about half way point to my destination. Luckily, the next car that came by actually picked me up. She was an English girl here on WHV and was on her way to work. Cool girl. She knows the deal.

The girl dropped me off at Hahei beach, about 30 min scenic walk to the start of the trail to Cathedral Cove. Close enough for me. So I walked couple hours to Cathedral Cove and back, not quite impressed with what I got in return for my efforts. Plus, I still had to find a ride back. I was in the Cathedral Cove parking lot now. Plenty of opportunities. I accosted the first people that came out into the parking lot - an elderly couple. They were on their way to Hot Water Beach, so I decided to check that out.

Hot Water Beach is famous for the geothermal activity that occurs underneath. While the water is cold and not fit for swimming because of the rocks that are around, during the low tide, you can actually take a spade and dig your own hot spring. Any other times tho, like when I went, it's just another beach.

Now I was further away from where I started. Yet again, I had to accost some people for a ride back. I saw two Japanese girls. I usually don't like to begin a conversation with a Japanese stranger in Japanese, as I may come across as being arrogant. (They may think "So you speak Japanese, so what? You're not the only foreigner who does.") This time tho, I kind of wanted to impress these girls and befriend them with out the long, drawn out introduction and conversation that it usually takes before I let on that I speak their language. The girls were Yumiko and Ai. Ai-chan is a senior in high school here, and Yumiko is here on WHV. They were with couple of guys - Gary, Yumiko's fiance from NZ, and Kevin, Gary's friend. They were the nicest people.

They were actually planning to go all the way to the passenger ferry to go to Whitianga - exactly where I needed to go. After couple of scenic detours to Cook's beach and Shakespeare's lookout, we were back at the ferry. They even paid for my $1 ferry across, and bought me a hot chocolate once on the other side. They even offered me a place to stay when I'm in their neighborhood. It's people like this who make travelling enjoyable. Not like the hypocritical owner, Jim, of On The Beach hostel. While he encouraged me to hitch hike, he acted repulsed and said something along the lines of "No way. Not going to happen." when I suggested the possibility that I could catch a ride with his brother who might be going near Thames, where the bus back to Auckland was cheaper. I hate that man. If the hostel itself wasn't actually nice and spotlessly clean, I'd be starting a boycott campaign against them.