Huge seas at Waihi Beach

                  

Over the last few days the waves have been very high and the sea very powerful here at the beach - must be a flow on from that down graded cyclone Bune that was going to effect the east coast. Some of the waves were as high as 3 metres and the tide came up over the sand dunes at high tide.

Also great news to be able to eat tuatua's again without the toxin fear - not sure if it was real or a beat up with MAF letting the beds rebuild - the synic in me suggests the latter.

To find out more about Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/photos.html

Waihi Beach Lodge - Hotel Club Hotel Awards 2011

                             
Waihi Beach Lodge has been selected as a finalist in the Hotel Club Hotel Awards 2011 in the
" Best Brekkie to wake up " for category. Waihi Beach Lodge was selected by the on the ground hotel experts for its excellence in breakfasts.

www.hotelclub.com/Hotel-Awards/Best-Brekkie-New-Zealand/

To find our more about some of Waihi Beach Lodge's recipes www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/recipes/BananaMuffins.pdf
www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/recipes/BananaCrunchCake.pdf

The Blues beat the Chiefs

What a game - could have gone either way but at present I have bragging rights with the local Chiefs supporters until the return match

Great to see the local Waihi Rugby Club featured in the promo on TVNZ leading up to RWC 2011
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrJrXxE3S-g

For more info the hosts Greg & Ali at Waihi Beach Lodge www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/hosts.html

Waihi Beach - Waitomo Caves

                                                   
Ali & I went to Waitomo on Wednesday to see what our guests would see and do if they did a day trip from Waihi Beach. It is an easy 2 hour drive and what an experience - as we had limited time we did the 45 minute cave tour and it was like being in fairy land -very magical and it explains a comment why the son of a Russian guest thought it was so magical it was not real - he thought it was done with power and someone had turned a switch!

We also took the time to visit the kiwi house in Otorohanga - well worth the hour we spent looking at NZ's native birds including the iconic Kiwi

For more info on activities at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Kiwi House- Otorohanga

             


                                                 

Ali & I had a great afternoon doing what our guests would do if they took a day trip to Waitomo/Otorohanga to see the Kiwi House - what a great refresher it was and we saw the kiwis being fed. We learned some interesting facts - male kiwis are quite a bit smaller than females - almost half their size,
A kiwi egg is smaller than an osterich egg but bigger than a duck or swan egg and when a female gives birth it is the equivalent of a woman giving birth to a 14lb child - yikes.
2 hours each way from Waihi Beach and well worth it as you see many other native kiwi birds - kea, woodpigeons, takahe, kaka, falcons, tuis - you name it they have it.

For more information on activities at Waihi Beach - and day trips to see the Kiwi house
www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach early morning

I had not been down on the beach in the early morning for some time until this morning. We took some guests from the USA torpedo fishing and what a morning it was. The sun had just come up and was peaking through - and initially very few people on the beach but as the morning went on more and more were either walking  surfing or swimming. It was so peaceful and with it being high tide the waves were crashing near the shore  and made for a fantastic morning.

For more information on activities at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

The Karangahake gorge

Yesterday I had a wonderful ride through the stunning Karanagahake gorge on my mountain bike. The day was just great with a bright blue sky and plenty of sun. You forget sometimes how lucky we are to have this on our doorstep and how beautiful it is - I will be doing more of this!

To find out more about activities in Southern Coromandel www.waihibeachlodge/activities.html

Marlin caught on the way to Mayor Island

This magnificent 120kg marlin  was caught yesterday by a local on the way out to the Mayor.
From reports the fight to land this marlin took only approx 30 minutes and the happy angler was over the moon and the happy anglers first marlin.

For more information on activities at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach - a great place to get married

                       Orakawa Bay

  Over the summer period it seems there are always weddings happening in and around the beach. It is not un common for there to be 5 or 6 weddings here on any one weekend and its not hard to understand why.'

At Waihi Beach we have a great beach - some get married on it, we have photographers like Mike Hill from Mike Hill photography - he takes such natural shots, we have a range of venues - The Secret Garden, The Porch Kitchen & Bar, The Flat White Cafe, The RSA, The Bowentown Boating club and the Waihi Beach Community Centre - great options for weddings at the beach.

Additionally we have a great choice of caterers, hair & make up, florists etc that help make that special day one to remember and we can accommodate their families & guests.

For more information on Honeymoon packages
www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/specials.html

Coincidences with Guests

Over the recent years we have had a few real nice coincidences with guests - none more so that guests we have just had. These guys were in the Coromandel and wanted somewhere nice to stay for their last night in NZ before flying home to the UK tonight. They came yeserday and spent a day in the Karangahake gorge and really enjoyed themselves and over breakfast they were telling us about their travels around NZ and that they had done the Central Otago rail trail and they really enjoyed it - a brother  and sister in law of theirs had done it last year when he was here & coincidentally they cycled around the Coromandel  and eventually down to Mt Maunganui - a little more conversation and we discover he also stayed with us  late last year  spooky!!!

Also a few years ago we have a group of Scots ( 3 families) who had been in NZ for a wedding and we also had another couple here from Scotland for a totally different wedding - they all came from Edinburgh and it turns out they worked/lived approx 100 metres from each other and one was the local pharmacist - small world!

We had 2 couples staying here from the UK - all coming to us separately  yet during discussions over a few drinks we discovered they were all leaving us to go on the same cruise around NZ and were on the same deck 4 rooms apart - woow.

To checkout out how to find Waihi Beach - www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/map.html

Guests caught in the Christchurch earthquake - full of praise for Kiwis

We have just received an email  from a couple of  guests  who had been staying with us in Waihi Beach early February - they have just got home to the US but their story after leaving us is remarkable - they got caught up in the Christchurch earthquake and as such were part of the initial rescue effort - successfully  rescuing some and not so lucky with others. They had to stay in Hagley park for a couple of  days and 1 night - you would have thought " some holiday as they lost everything" but they are the lucky ones as they are alive - you can replace most possessions.

Their humility for what they have been part of is amazing as is their love of New Zealand and Kiwis in general - here is a snippet of what they had to say  to us"The thing we remember and cherish most is how extraordinarily wonderful NZ folks were to us. Not only before, but after the quake, the kindness, concern, care, generosity that was extended to us was truly humbling. We are really in awe of the spirit and humanity of all the NZ folks we met."

for more info on what our guests are saying www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/guestbook.html

Overseas Guests see New Zealand as clean & green

Over the season we have had many guests say to us how nice and clean New Zealand is and how green it is.They are taking an over all look and they are comparing us globally. I have seen the grafitti in places like London, Rome and Paris - it really hurts to see old buildings grafittied especially when they are part of a cities history. In Rome seeing ruins grafittied was just the pits as it took away something from seeing the ruins as they were. In London and Paris we saw train tunnels with grafitti for africa - it seemed like no one cared.

Back here at Waihi Beach  I get around on my mountain bike and I get really annoyed when I see people too lazy to take their green waste to the recycling station so they dump it less than a kilometre away  from the station on the side of the road for someone else to have to shift or they just dump their household rubbish on the side of the road. Plus there is the normal drink bottles tossed out the windows of cars or the takeaway boxes of what ever also thrown on the side of the road - people bone lazy.

 I would really love to throw a  burning cigarette back in the window of the drivers who throw the burning buttts  out onto the road again for someone else to clean up - have they not heard about ashtrays - but then  they would have to clean those out to.

So we are not that clean & green after all but we could be if everyone cared enough to do a little and  in this case that's look after their own rubbish! It would add real value to the clean green image that we are supposed to have.

T o see what our guests are saying www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/guestbook.html

Overseas visitors getting poor service

Over the last few weeks we have heard several horror stories from guests about the poor service they recieved from seeming reputable providers mainly from Auckland city and Auckland International airport service providers.

One set of guests were put in a hotel room right on the floor directly above a night club and their lounge room window opened into the hotels gym. After complaining several times about the on going noise from 11.30pm until 2am they were shifted many floors up - 7 - into a new room - why weren't they put there in the first place and save the hassle?

Another arrived into Auckland International airport late at night and decided to stay in Auckland for the night and asked  at the Auckland help desk for advice on a hotel - and he was prepared to pay whatever the cost for a nice hotel - he was sent to a hotel that had "women in bikinis outside" and the guest had also asked for a hotel that had cafes close by that he could have breakfast in. The hotel above did have cafes close by but they did not open in the morning for breakfast as their trade obviously was with the nightlife.The guest was annoyed at the advice he was given as the person giving the advice seemed to just want to get rid of him and his accommdation problem but in turn created an unhappy customer who has/will tell many others about his poor experience.

Rental car companies - one set of guests when collecting their car asked for a map - sorry we have run out was the reply - just slack!

Another was not shown around his car  to check for scratches /dents etc nor given advice as to how to get on the motorway south - what would have happened if there were claims/queries later as nothing was agreed prior- just slack!

Another rental car compnay did not show up at all - their competitors had to show the guest where to get the keys and paper work.You could not complain about the service - there wasn't any!

We recently had guests that came to us from a B & B that did everything perfectly - except they did not service the room during the day - they left it to the guests to do their own servicing - they really missed a trick here as our experience is that guests enjoy returning to see their rooms made up again , rubbish taken away and everything tidy  - perhaps with even a little surprise of some home baking left to have with a cup of something.The 95% they did perfecly was undone by the 5% they did not do at all.

Another set of guests arrived late into their city hotel as their plane had been delayed by 8 or so hours so they arrived early in the morning. When they got up to go and find out about breakfast around 9am they were told they had to be out of their tooms by 10 am - the hotel could easily have said have your breakfast we will service your room a little later - instead these guests checked out determined not to spend a cent in the hotel and ate at a cafe close by - the hotel missed out on over $100.00 as they were a party of 4 - a little empathy here would have worked wonders.

To find out what our guests are saying about Waihi Beach Lodge www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/guestbook.html

Guests missed the earthquake in Christchurch

It has been pleasing to finally hear back from guests saying they are safe and they were somewhere else who - you were not sure if or when they were going to be in Christchurch - bit of a relief really.

We had an English couple who were due in the garden city after the earthquake who texted to say they were ok but had changed their plans and were heading elsewhere - again relived to hear they are safe & well if not a little shocked by the graphic images seen all around the world.

Also heard from two young indian couples in New Zealand on their honeymoons from Mumbai - they had stayed with us for a couple of nights and were heading south after Rotorua so we were very unsure of their plans so we are very happy and relieved they are ok and safe - so Ashwin & Mitali , Anuja, & Vaibhav great to hear from you.

If you want to find out what our guests are saying about us.

www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/guestbook.html

Motor Bikes visiting Waihi Beach

                 

We get many guests coming to Waihi Beach on their New Zealand tour on all sorts of bikes but mostly Harley Davidsons.

Recently we had a couple of guests from Utah USA on their Honda - they guys were heading down south looking forward to seeing what New Zealand has to offer.

Baz & Ali from Bularangi Harley tours get guests to see the Coromandel from their Waihi Base doing either a 4 hour or full day loop of the area taking in the mighty sights that this piece of paradise has to offer.

To see what our guests are saying about Waihi Beach Lodge www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/guestbook.html