Words and Light

Our first morning in New Zealand, we got to be the early bird who were handed lemons and made lemonade.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

Our first day in New Zealand gave us a good preview in the temperamental weather patterns we’d experience for the rest of the trip: Widespread cloud cover would give way to brilliant sunshine, only for a quick and cold rain shower to emerge out of nowhere, and vice-versa.

Our second day was much of the same. We left Auckland early enough to laugh at the morning radio hosts fretting over why Angelina didn’t invite Brad for Thanksgiving and arrived at Hahei Beach for an 8:45 a.m. sea kayak tour to Cathedral Cove. The sky was blue, the water was clear and we were ready to go.

But the winds were unusually strong, so the tour guide canceled the tour for safety. Undeterred, we drove to a half-full public access lot and hiked to Cathedral Cove instead.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

When we arrived, there were maybe a dozen other people on the entire beach, and it almost felt like we had the place to ourselves. We left our sandals on a tree trunk near the trail and began exploring. It was a gorgeous morning, and life was good.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

By the time we left, an hour later, the beach was fuller and we encountered more people on the trail that took us back to the now-full parking lot. I’m not sure when we would have arrived at the beach had we kayaked from Hahei, but as disappointing as it was to have that tour canceled, I’m pretty okay with the way things worked out.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

© 2016. Te Whanganui-A-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Preserve in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.

A selection of these photos can be purchased as prints at prints.christhedunn.com.