Miranda to Cambridge: “If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes.”

14 December 2023

After one more long soak in the mineral pool we packed up and took a short drive to Ray’s Rest, along The Firth of Thames. This protected area consists of ocean, beach and swamp. The sand on the narrow beach is made almost entirely of white shells. There are plenty of birds such as local herons and a sand-piper like bird called a pied stilt pouaka. Across the street from the beach are grazing cows. On the other side of the waterway is the Coromandel Peninsula; an area of more hills, hot springs and the famous Hot Water Beach.

But we were headed South East to a holiday park in the town of Cambridge. Here we learned an important NZed tourist lesson: all coffee shops close at 3pm. But with a stock of tea, Chocolate Covered Digestives, and the best Dark Chocolate Kit Kats we’ve ever tasted (sorry Glossop, these are even better!) we did just fine.

The communal kitchen facilities in this holiday park were excellent, but crowded. Apparently the local high school was sponsoring a rowing tournament so we jostled for a space at the stove with teenagers and their chaperones. I put on some water to boil and started to sauté some ground pork as Mike chopped tomato and onion. The man warming up hot dogs next to me asked “You’re making Bolognese?” “Yes! How did you know?” “Well” he replied “I’m French!”. And then he scoffed, in a very friendly way, when I added an ingredient of which he did not approve. The meal turned out great, however. And while washing up I saw another pair of guests making the exact same dish!

SO, the weather! In conversations with Kiwis (as New Zealanders call themselves) they almost always say that in this country you can experience all four seasons in a day. I’ll go even further and say that you can experience all four seasons in an hour! It will be cloudy and calm. Then the wind will pick up and it will be frigid and cold and it will be pouring rain. Then the sun comes out and it is really hot! The sun is MUCH stronger down here and with it’s proximity to the hole in the ozone, the UV index can be quite high. What will we experience tomorrow when we head to Hobbiton (Yes, THE Hobbiton Movie Set!) ? Stay tuned!