Catherdral Cove

It's summer time, what better time than to head to the beach and join the traffic!

Last weekend, we drove up to the secluded Coromandel spot of Cathedral Cove. A couple of hundred tourists had arrived before us, so we tracked up to the car park on foot.

Before starting on the walk down to the beach, we encountered a sign saying 'Do you need water?" indicating a rather long walk ahead and the convenient stall of food and drink nearby.

We set off with our own water along the track. It started off well downhill but was not all plain sailing. The constant up and down nature of the track kept our minds on the task at hand. But slowly but surely, my legs started to hurt.

I was glad when we finally reached the final steep stairs to the beach, but we had to wait for a while for tourists on their way back up the narrow stairs.

The beach and Cathedral Cove were stunning and the weather was pretty fantastic.

We clambered on the rocks and then headed into the sea. My brother was keen to jump off the main rock further out to sea several times as I floated like a starfish.

Found the beach toilets hidden in the trees after a little search.

It was rather like a tree house structure but was really a modern long drop. Once ascending to the top, found 2 toilets, each with large windows looking out to the beach. It was a bit of an eye opener privacy wise to say the least after encountering dark changing rooms most of my life.

Another thing that struck me on the white sand was the brazen attitude of tourists over possessions. They were quite happy to leave their large cameras in plain sight, not worrying about theft. I'd love to be so carefree but have become rather security conscious myself and was very thorough in secreting our bags.

Even if NZ is considered a safe place, I find it scary to leave things to chance. Unfortunately this fear can take you over if you let it, so I have to keep it in check!

After a couple of hours, we were back on the dreaded walk home. I had my wet togs on under my pants so it looked like I had had a rather unfortunate accident. Also as expected the walk certainly ripped my legs off and required frequent stops before I could contemplate walking another 3 metres.

Despite this we checked some of the other curiously named bays such as Gemstone Bay- which ended up being pile of rocks.

1001 Journals

While browsing in the 'How-to-write' section of the local library, I found this great book '1001 Journals Project', chronicling snippets of 1001 journals left in public spaces across the US and ultimately the world.

Each creative entry is pretty inspiring as I love collage and mixed media. Adding an entry before passing it on where instructions written in each book. Looks like that was dutifully done otherwise there wouldn't be this collection of snippets and now exhibitions!

Some of the entries were how they found the book, who they past it on to- fellow backpacker, stranger or where they left it. One participant left it on a mountain thinking another traveller would take it. A year later when they returned it was still there, so they transported it somewhere else.

What a great global community project! It reminds me of Post a Secret, sometimes we can share so much more with strangers then those closest to us.

Horoscopes

We are 7 days into the new year and I have been keenly reading my horoscope. Its all rather addictive after a while but you have to be wary as to whether the 'advice/predictions' are applicable.

I must say I usually take them with a grain of salt, but sometimes they seem so specific that you wonder what will happen the next day.
A couple of years ago, I read that the next day I would get a job offer. I started wondering who could possibly offer me a job and only one name sprung to mind. Fast forward to the next day lunchtime, I check my phone and have one missed call. Its the one person that I thought of ringing me with a message for me to come to an interview!

I didn't get the job but started to ever so slightly start to believe in them and maybe dangerously so put trust in them. This year is supposedly going to boast my career to new heights! Here's hoping.