A Bach with History

We woke in the night several times to heavy rain beating on the roof. The Met Service forecast was correct, and our hopes passed that Cyclone Luci had moved on.  The previous evening, the gales had dropped off somewhat, the rain had become intermittent, and that's all we had needed to give us hope.

Over the last 2 days, we had spent a  lot of time inside, out of the storm. As a result, my attention focused on our safe refuge. We're staying in a Bach, pronounced "batch", and defined as "a small New Zealand vacation house"; a cottage. It's quite non-descript from the outside, except to say, it's unique, and nestled in the trees on the side of the steep hill rising from the sea. The laneway is steep, and the stairs up to the deck and entrance, steeper. The place is perfectly named, Sea Perch.

Inside, it's beautiful! At least, beautiful  in its own way. It's a nice blend of modern with antique accents. The accents have a nautical theme and make it homey. The owner, Carol S. "works at sea", in her words. There's a large assortment of items from old ships; charts, rigging, pictures and the like. It's tastefully decorated and interesting, very interesting.

From the living room and deck, looking south,  there is a wonderful view of the bay and Coromandel harbour. During low tide, oyster farming beds are in view, front and center. I'm sure as the weather clears, the view will become quite spectacular.

Coromandel was discovered and developed largely through the mining of gold, but the area has since transformed its economy to oyster farming and tourism.  Just down the road, there's a tribute to a gold processing plant that stood since 1879, before being replaced in recent history by the current oyster farm operation. Warnings of tramping the backwoods suggest there's numerous dangerous mineshafts. They don't speak to the possibility of finding gold and getting rich though.

The cottage building had been built as part of a gold mining operation further up the hillside. Due to restrictions on land use, Carol was limited to renovating the "old miner's dwelling" into her home. Now, as she says, "the place shouldn't be shut up and left" when she's away, so she shares it with folks like us.

We'd like to thank Carol for allowing us to stay in the fruits of her passion. It's proving to be a wonderful place for us to live like Kiwis, and explore the history of Coromandel Peninsula .

Click here for the next story in this series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2014/03/breaking-cabin-fever.html