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.

Rewards for sacrifice

The other day I was looking at a dreary office building and its windows. I imagined a 9-5 worker behind it, watching the clock aka living for the weekend.

There is always the reminder of what is outside the office- family, friends, holidays in photos pinned to the wall.
At work, our time and soul are the sacrificial lambs of life. They have to be traded to get money. With all this sacrifice, we need lots of rewards to keep us happy.

Why not indulge ourselves, just to ease the drudgery of modern living and Monday mornings?

So out came the rewards loyalty card. We all want that 'free' coffee or 20% off our next purchase but we have to pay with our money, persistence and consistency.
You'll forget about them. Then when you eventually find them at the bottom of your wallet, you'll discover they all have used by dates in their fine print.

Later, I was at the trendy site of revelation, the petrol pump. There was a sign about being a FlyBuys Millionaire.
Even if you buy into reward schemes, you have to be the most persistent person on the planet, never forgetting your membership card, coffee cards or vouchers.

But when will you reach enough points to be rewarded 'well'?

With my points I could get a vegetable dehydrator from Noel Leeming but not the promised trip to London. That's about $10,000 of extra buying to get close. These schemes are all pipe dreams, promising big 'rewards' just by spending money.

If I need a reward, I'll try a walk around the lake.
Some worthless points aren't going to cut it.