ZZ Top star loves Hahei takeaways
Mike Mather visits the Coromandel town to discuss the big issues with the locals. Q A Q A Q A
So, what’s the big scandal hanging over Hahei this year? Sam Verran: Oh, we can’t tell you that – it’s much too scandalous and they wouldn’t want everyone knowing about it in the paper.
Pauline Verran: The big scandal here is the infrastructure of Hahei – or rather the lack of it. Particularly on the route down to Cathedral Cove.
Sam: There’s 200,000 people taking that walk every year, most of them right about now, but there is only one eco-friendly toilet at the top of the car park, and one at the bottom of the track – for 200,000 people.
We had a bus load of Asian tourists pull up the other day and they all stood in line waiting to use the public toilet next to this place, which doesn’t even have a soap dispenser. Who is the most famous person who you have had grace your store in recent times? Sam: We had Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top here a while back. He was great. Even asked to take a photo of me as I was cooking up his takeaways.
Pauline: We have had that woman’s netball coach not so long ago ... Can’t remember her name. And Piri Weepu and Matthew Ridge more recently. Probably plenty of others who we didn’t recognise. What do you really think of the tourists? Sam: They are great, but there is plenty of potential there for them to really ruin this place – dumping their rubbish, messing the place up.
Pauline: The majority of them are really, really great. They come here after heading to Cathedral Cove and they tell us they just can’t believe the place.
They just want to spend every last minute that they can on that beach. The councils just need to sort out the infrastructure, and get some proper facilities for them all.