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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Waihi Beach - part 2

I'm sorry if everyone is getting tired of how I keep raving about all the wonderful beaches we have been experiencing but let me remind you that these blog entries are firstly for my own personal use in the years to come when I know I will need more than just a few gentle prompts to dredge memories of thoughts and feeling long forgotten. And so yes Waihi Beach is another long crescent beach with firm white sand and when the wind is right, boasts surfer quality breakers. Very close to Auckland it is a popular weekend getaway destination. We were excited to be on a beach again this day as winds up to 150k had been predicted in the region and indeed the previous day they had cancelled the Cook Strait ferry crossings, a rare occurrence given gale force winds are regularly encountered. Unfortunately for we storm watchers the promised winds did not materialize and what there was turned out to be pretty much offshore in direction thus the seas were unnaturally calm. The small village of Waihi Beach is only 10k or so from the town of Waihi, the site where the Martha mine was established in 1882.
This bridge led to a great hike, but bring your light
This gold mine was one of the largest in the world at the time and a significant percentage of global gold production (which I can't now recall) was at this site. Waihi is really a sleepy little town except that essentially right in the middle of town is the mine. We're talking open pit mine to a depth of 250 meters. From the road into town you can see a large minehead now in disrepair. It had a very familiar look to it and the puzzle pieces fell into place when we saw we could tour the 'Cornish Minehead' and take a ride down to the depth of the pit. We passed on this opportunity and instead headed for the Karangahake gold fields. Here we had a fantastic walk through the Karangahake gorge. This hike took us over swinging bridges, past abandoned mining equipment and through mine shafts.
Access to the notched pathway was blocked.  Back through the tunnels again.
While the use of a torch was recommended we of course did not have one with us and thought we could probably get away without one. Wrong! While the first couple of sections of tunnel had light coming in from windows cut out to the edge of the gorge every 50 meters or so, the last section was totally and completely pitch black. Eyes open or closed made no difference. The tunnel still had the narrow gauge rail lines and ties and there were a few spots where I had to duck down a bit so it really wasn't safe to try feeling your way forward.
Go to the light!
We negotiated the last several hundred meters using the flash of my camera to illuminate the next few steps. It wasn't until we made it to the light at the end of the tunnel that Julie remembered Kim showing her how her phone had a little flashlight setting and it wasn't until lunch when I reached into my backpack and discovered my headlamp. We had a delightful picnic lunch on the rocks by the river and then retraced our steps through the tunnels then back to camp, however not before provisioning ourselves for that evening's repast. Now most of the cottages we had been staying in had fairly limited cooking facilities: a two burner hob, a microwave, a toaster and a communal barbecue. However this one also had a small oven. We were excited. We could roast something. Thus into the butcher and immediately two of the most amazing looking lamb shanks seemed to cry out and say; 'Take me! Take me!'. So we did. Thus after rubbing them down with grated garlic, salt and pepper into the roasting pan along with an onion, some carrots, kumara and a bottle of Monteith's summer ale they went. It's worth noting that as far as we could tell the roasting pan had never been used before. Our plan was to walk along the beach and into the bakery while the lamb slowly roasted so we could fetch a suitable desert for the impending feast. We already had the mint sauce. We had the wine. We had the green veg and salad. It retrospect, it was a good thing that the bakery was closed when we got there. When we returned to our little cottage about two hours later any anxiety we might have had about being away so long was quickly dispelled by delicious aroma that assaulted us when we opened the door. I thickened the gravy using some of the boiled potato and Kavli biscuit. It was passable but in my opinion the weakest part of the meal. But, OMB felt we ate like kings enjoying these tender succulent morsels of delight and that night's repast will be of those meals we long remember.

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