For the majority of my life I think it is safe to say I’ve had a fair share of close guy friends that keep me in line, are blunt when they need to be, and act gross and silly to make things comfortable. This is wonderful and I wouldn’t trade a single one of them for anyone else….
However, something this weekend reminded me how important it is to have a great number of girl friends in your life as a woman. It sounds so silly and cliche but I can’t remember the last time I took a trip to a subtle paradise with a group of girls …just because.
We packed our bags, loaded up the boots of the car with shared groceries to make pizzas, french toast, coffee, and of course a great number of pink and red bottles of wine. My favorite addition to this pile of fun was the home-made treats that each of us baked earlier in the day to bring along as well. That just doesn’t work when you go on a road trip with guys. If I told them to make sure and bake something nice and tasty to enjoy on the couch for when we watch movies, they would laugh in my face and think that I was trying to pull something on them…
Anyway, our trip to the beautiful Coromandel was an absolute success with the perfect potion of relaxation, comfort, and adventure.
Coromandel is an area of New Zealand best known for its beaches and absolutely breathtaking views. Unfortunately for us, we picked a not-so-good weather weekend in Spring where we encountered a great amount of thunder and lightning storms. Luckily, this did not put a damper on our weekend in the slightest bit. We spent Friday night with our bottles of wine on the couch with loads of blankets and stories to tell to one another about our recent life encounters. A good friend and I stayed up until 5:30 in the morning, slightly spooked by the earthquaking thunder and random flashes of lightning all around us.. (but secretly I thought it was pretty cool), talking about all the travails that life has brought us this far.
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day. Quickly after our breakfast we made our way to a small cafe, (the only cafe within about a 5 mile radius to the beach house) and sat down for some coffee and smoothies. Then we walked to the beach. It was beautiful! Not entirely sunny… yet still called for a great amount of photo ops.
Kinnie, the girl whose beach house we were staying at was familiar with the beach. She let us know that an even more beautiful beach, (she claims it’s one of the prettiest 20 beaches in the world according to some statistic) was just beyond the rocks on the other side of the beach. A few of us decided we were up for the adventure.
Unfortunately I was not well equipped with hiking boots, a backpack, or anything to mend any dangerous wounds that we most definitely could have come across… but we were afraid the rain would come in later and we had to get moving. So I put on my nike free runs and hoped for the best…
This just happened to be one of the scariest hikes ever! Without a real trail we found ourselves climbing over rocks and shells, and pools of water. Hopping from one stone to the next. Finally we reached some greenery with somewhat of a mud indent that could have been created by surfers that took that route daily. We decided to follow it. Since the lovely rain had just poured down the night before, our trail was a glorious slip n’ slide mud mote that we were trekking through in our normal clothes, nike shoes, and underprepared minds. After about maybe 40 minutes time we made it through the jurassic greenery forest and out onto, I kid you not, one of the most amazing beaches I had ever seen… just like Kinnie had said. I was most definitely impressed and I’ve seen a fair share of beaches in my lifetime.
This picture does not even begin to do the beach justice, you will just have to trust me on this one that it is a place you must see with the naked eye.
So, for the next half hour or so we frolicked through the water, took loads of pictures, and swung on a rope attached to a tree conveniently near by. What a dream it was.
After that, we made the charming mud hike back to the beach and had to walk deep into the tide that had since created a small pool just deep enough to get our legs wet right up to the knees. We figured this would at least soak the mud off of our sneakers.
Coromandel is a place I could visit one thousand times over. The weekend was filled with laughter, cuddles, beauty, and beaches. What more could a girl even ask for??
Can’t wait for the summer time to go back and visit again. 🙂
Joyful Thinking 