To Hot Water Beach

Good accommodation at the YHA International in Auckland, although I shared and 8-bed dorm with 7 Chinese girls, so not much chat!

The Kiwi bus picked me up at 8.30 driven by Buzz, a Maori. After all the Auckland pickups we stopped briefly at the Kiwi main office and I had a long chat with Miles who gave me lots of interesting info about the Kiwi Experience. I also bought a teeshirt, as you do. We headed up to Eden Point where there were panoramic views all over the city from a volcanic crater. Unfortunately it was a really grey day and visibility was poor. But here is the stadium where they played the rugby world cup.

We were now heading off to Coramandel and the Hot Water Beach. Although I had already been to the Coramandel Peninsular with Leigh and Dan, I hadn’t visited the Hot Water Beach or Waitoma further on, so decided to go along with this part of the route.

We stopped for lunch in Thames which felt very odd as I had been here before. I even went into the same supermarket where we had stocked up for the Bach in Little Bay only a few weeks earlier. The Kopu Bridge over the Waitou River is nearly finished Leigh.

We arrived at Hot Water Bay in drizzly rain but the Hostel is just the best, a brand new set of chalets set in the most beautiful countryside with their own showers, toilets and kitchen areas.

Our first excursion was a wet walk to Cathedral Cove. This was about an hour’s walk in the rain but well worth it. There was plenty of botanical interest along the way but it was a very steep descent to the beach and a long haul back up.

Next was the hot water pools on the beach. We had to take spades and dig our own pool just as the tide turned at 6.30pm. It was such a ridiculous site…. all sitting in mini spas dotting in a hot thermal area on the beach in the rain. Every so often a big wave would wash over everyone … so more like a sauna with the cold pool effect. In some places the beach was too hot to stand on. This new gang of twenty somethings I’ve joined today are just great and have embraced me as one of them!

After the hot beach pools, I treated myself to fish and chips which they sell at the hostel. I felt I deserved this after two evenings of noodles, and I even tried a battered oyster which was delicious, washed down with some New Zealand beer.

After taking a shower, I heard laughter coming from a communal area near our chalets and went round to see what was going on. They welcomed me with a cup of wine and I joined the party which was made up of our Kiwi bus load and which went on into the evening with one guy even getting out his guitar. Oh this is so much fun and I have made a whole new group of mates in just 24 hours.

Off to Waitoma early tomorrow but you’ll be amazed to hear that I’ve decided against the Abyss, which involves abseiling into the depths of the earth……