Squashed toe and hot water beach
December 4th, 2008The other day I went to Hot water beach. Sounds a little strange. The sea is pretty cold as most seas are, however you can make your own hot spa.
Just hire a spade from the local shop, then head down to a spot by the rocks on the sand and dig a hole. You have to do this two hours either side of low tide in order for it to be possible because the ’special’ place gets covered by the sea most of the day. As with most holes that are dug in sand at sea level, they fill with water however at this location a fresh spring water reservoir which is heated geothermically seeps up to fill your hole with water at a temperature of roughly 60 degrees Celsius..thats HOT! Its too hot for most people to bathe in, so by mixing your very own spa water with a couple of bucket fulls from the sea you can create the perfect bath. Then just jump in and relax.
Over the last month I have played a couple of impromptu outdoor gigs and managed to do a bit more sampling. I need to pick up a few bits and pieces for my live show as its quite stripped down. I wasnt thinking cymbals between the knees or anything like that but just a couple of effects pedals and maybe something else..
I Met up with my Dad …Ged…for those who dont know, he is a bit of a Rugby League legend (played for Great Britain and Hull Kingston Rovers) and came over to Australia for the world cup. It was awesome to catch up with the man and we went to say hello to a couple of ex Kiwi players he used to play/coach with. They are Mark Broadhurst and Gordon Smith both of whom played for the New Zealand national side. It was really interesting hearing them talk about brawls and battles on the field during their playing careers. Mark re-lived a game in which he was headbutted at the start by a player who singled him out and broke his cheekbone in three places and I was blown away to hear that he managed to play the rest of the game with one eye completely closed. The game was a lot dirtier back then and I got a great insight into how gritty it often became.
After Ged left us we headed over to the west coast of the South Island. The mountains are titanic. We did some mountain bike trails in Queenstown and ate a mammoth burger the size of a human head from a place called Fergburger. When I think back, I can just picture a wall of meat in a bread bun.

We went to see a film called the Counterfeiter about a money forging project in a prisoner of war camp. The cinema was in Wanaka and instead of the regular seats, there were a range of sofas and lounge furniture. There was even half a morris minor in there so you could sit behind the steering wheel and watch through the windscreen if thats what yer fancy.
The film was interesting and reminded me of my Grandpa who was a master forger in one of the prison camps in Germany. He had trained as a Lithographer before the war and was skilled in touch up work which meant he had an extremely good hand for painting detail. He would make passports and gate passes for escapees that made attempts on breaking out. He was a prisoner of war for 3 years and survived to the end. Now he lives near my mum and dad in Hedon.


So I went on a three day hike over a mountain range to get a bit of fresh air. I went with some luverley Devonshire folk ..clotted cream scones, well educated etc and of course Mr Merrington, JW and Nic. On the second morning after a nights sleep in a hut part way along the so called Kepler track, I was in the kitchen area limbering up. By limbering I mean proper lunges with my foot up on a large wooden bench similar in pose to an olympic 400mrunner. Essentially I was just horsing around until the bench slipped. slamming down onto my big toe. Of course Everyone was laughing uncontrollably, and I was waiting for the pain to subside so I could join them in the redicule. Anyway it was fairly unrelenting and the toe went black as hell immediately. I acted on instructions to put my foot under some cold water so I put my leg up to the sink under the cold tap at which point the blood drained from my head and I felt like I was going to collapse. I made my excuses and headed off to have a lie down but I only got as far as the middle of the kitchen floor before I had to lie there and then before I fell down.
The next thing I knew I was being woken up from what was like a strange dream by Alice Creamteas who luckily enough is a nurse. I havent ever fainted before but it was a bit like I was tripping or something. Not good.
After a bowl of porridge and the colour was back in my cheeks, I had to walk for two days over a mountain. Unfortunately that meant that by the end of my breath of fresh air, the big toe was a swollen mess. After a few hours of unbearable pain it was decided that the best course of action was to put a hole in the swelling to relieve the pressure. We got a needle from a travel sewing kit and got to work with some camping surgery. After I had bled for a bit, the throbbing subsided and I was feeling much better. I treated myself to a slap up tea and all was well. Its a bit of a state now though. Good walk though.
I am back in Christchurch now. Ive learnt how to play backgammon by the Amanda the jedi master, seen dolphins, seals, penguins, possums, llamas, black coral, a stack of sheep and I even stroked a tiny ginger piglet. NZ has definately got the widlife thing going on and I might well return for a bit longer.. we’ll see. Tomorrow its over to Melbourne in Australia for a new adventure where I am hoping to meet up with a few friends, go on a bit of a road trip and will probably be getting into some bother.




























