Amelia, the Coromandel

Amelia and I attract weirdos. The first night we went out, we were harassed by a man named John. Extremely drunk, he introduced himself to us thrice (“hello, I’m John and I’m white”) before two men across the bar came to intervene. They worked for Volkswagen and were at the bar for their company Christmas party. They invited us to join them and we took advantage of the company card to obtain free drinks all night. As we were preparing to go home, their manager announced confidently that he was going home with us. No sir! We took off running and ducked down an alleyway. Later, I received a Facebook message request from one of them. Stiffly worded like an email to a colleague, it explains that he found me on Facebook by looking at my passport when I wasn’t looking. Mm yes, just what a girl wants. I leave his message request pending.

A few weeks later, Amelia and I are relaxing at the beach when a man with a ukulele comes up and asks to serenade us. Flattered and delighted, we agree.

“I’m so good I can make you wet without touching you!” he proclaims. Confidence is key but he has none. He is awful. He fumbles his way around the songs with discordant fluctuations in pitch and tempo while Amelia and I struggle to keep a straight face. We politely listen to two songs but make our escape by saying we need to get dinner when he offers to sing us a third one. By this point the man’s friends have come to sit by us, including a man who stares with such intense and unblinking eyes that I am decidedly unnerved.

With this track record, our roadtrip through the Coromandel is bound to be interesting. Amelia’s flatmate Annie makes us an itinerary, Amelia packs a bag and we set off.

Our first stop is the Karangahake Valley where we walk down the Hauraki Rail Trail. Although gorgeous, it’s not on Annie’s itinerary. We doubt our ability to stick to an itinerary but are convinced when we make it to the first stop on Annie’s list—Pokohino beach. Pokohino is stunning, with clear turquoise water and sparkling white sand. We climb around on the dramatic rocks that make up the coastline and swim in the refreshing water. There’s a tunnel that probably leads to another cove at low tide but we are unable to make it through with the tide rising. We go halfway through and let the tide push us out again. We go to a secret waterfall swimming hole (Tangatoria stream) next and then to Pauanui beach. We eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches at a lookout while watching the sun set over the Whenuakite Forest and then head to Hot Water Beach to watch the full moon rise huge and orange and gorgeous over the ocean. Hot Water Beach is named for the geothermal water that can be accessed by digging holes in the sand at low tide. We dig giant holes in the sand with our bare hands but never find the hot water so we conclude that it’s either high tide or we’re in the wrong place. The next day we start at Hahei Beach and hike to Cathedral Cove, a Narnia filming location. We swim out to a giant rock which we jump off of into the ocean. The next day we go to Opito Bay and walk to Crayfish Bay for cliff jumps. Next, we go to New Chum’s beach where we climb up a steep set of stairs to a lookout point and swim out to a rock where I cut my foot. We spy a sea cave on the opposite side of the bay but don’t want to swim to it so we undertake an intense rock climb to reach it. On the way back, we meet Benjamin.

Benjamin is a German boy around our age. He is wet from swimming back from a high tide island in the bay where he was fishing for squid. He’s got a strange sense of humor: he lost a net somewhere along the trail from the car park to the beach and when Amelia holds up a net she spotted in the bushes, he says it’s not his with such deadpan that Amelia throws it back in the bushes only for him to pick it up again. He invites us to sleep in a field outside his house in a town where only he lives. No thanks. We continue on towards Port Jackson searching for a place to park for the night. I pull into a promising looking park and a car pulls in behind us. My window is rolled down so I call out to the scruffy man behind the wheel and ask him what’s up. He replies that he’s looking for his friend and speeds off when I reply that I am leaving. Confused and unsettled, I make us sleep in the front seats for several hours before I feel safe enough to set up the back. Two weirdos in one day, nice!

I drop Amelia off at the inter-city bus stop in Thames the next day and continue on alone.

Amelia has an incredible ability to make people feel at ease which I think is part of the reason we attract so many interesting characters. I feel comfortable with her, surprisingly unbothered in situations where I would normally feel unsure. She is unafraid to be herself; to be vulnerable and to bring her anxieties into the light. It's a special kind of bravery to expose your most sensitive thoughts and trust that the person you are opening to will not let you down. I admire Amelia’s courage and I follow her lead clumsily.

Amelia studies music and we have plans to go busking when I get back to Auckland, something I’m extremely excited for. Like everything else we've done, I have no doubt that it will be an adventure!

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