A Familiar Face

To Tairua, New Zealand

The Camper Mate app we use to find this free camp spot said it was beautiful and that was no lie. The tide was out again in the morning revealing the huge mud flats, but the clouds and rising sun made it incredibly beautiful nonetheless.

As we were getting organized and washing up dishes, a French woman, Laurie, rode by with her two impressively large horses. To the kids delight, she offered to let them ride, both along the beach and in the water. Judging from the smiles, I think it was a huge success. .

Meg, who is an avid Facebook user, realized a friend and previous coworker of mine was actually vacationing in New Zealand and specifically the Coromandel region. Julie and I had worked together at Intuitive Surgical for some fifteen years and had each left within a couple months of each other. Unlike me, however, Julie had left not to travel the world, but for an intensive role at a startup. After less than half a year, she realized the new position was more than she bargained for and decided to take a break. It was a ton of fun to catch up and see a familiar face.

Meg and Julie

The hot pools at Hot Water Beach took a little getting use to. There were three or four dozen beach goers huddled in one small section of the beach looking like a flock of nesting birds. The idea was to hunt around for a spot where, after digging down a foot or two, the water was warm. Just a few feet could make the difference between cool and scalding water. The kids eventually found an already dug pool close to the surf and routed a thin stream of hot water into it. The best method was to alternate between the cool crashing waves of the ocean and the sandy hot tub.

The road back to our campsite in Tairua was hilly and super winding and therefore super slow with our super underpowered van. What we've gained in size compared to previous vans we’ve lost in power, refinement, and usefulness. We’ve finally realized the auxiliary battery is only charged with the solar panel, not apparently when driving or plugged into AC power!  We were told not to keep the fridge on after the sun sets, which unfortunately hardly matters since at max setting there is almost no cooling. The bottom line is that the water pump, fridge, and lighting is essentially useless. We’ll be talking to Share-a-Camper tomorrow.

By the time we were back at camp it was dark and everyone was tired and sandy. Off we went to the showers and then across the street for an excellent, though late, pizza dinner.