Day 51 - Hot Water Beach

Saturday, November 23rd

I have visited New Zealand three times before now but have never before been to the Coromandel Peninsula. It's out-of-the-way and therefore not on the radar for many tourists. It doesn't help that the road to get here is tricky. But word is getting out! 

We mentioned to Adele that we wanted to visit Hot Water Beach. She checked the tides, packed a picnic lunch and a couple of sand spades and sent us on our way with directions of where to go and what to see and do. ACH! - we had to drive one hour south on that same road we came up on. We did it with the understanding that the more we drive it the more confident we'll be. After all, we have to leave in a few days!

Our first stop was Hahei Beach - another beautiful spot!

We took a walk into the village exclaiming how nice it would be to rent a holiday house here for a month. Then we headed out on a forest hike towards Cathedral Cove.

We stopped at a lookout where streams of tourists were parking and heading up the path to the cove. So far, we've been pleased that we've chosen to travel before the height of tourist season, mid-December to the end of January. No crowds, empty beaches, tour buses or little traffic - but I think it's starting now. We were completely turned off by the hoardes of people on the trail, so decided we needed to head back for our picnic.

We were watching the time carefully as we needed to be at Hot Water Beach 2 hours before low tide. There are 2 hot spots on this beach where hot underground stream water can be accessed by digging a hole at low tide and 2 hours either side of low tide. 

We drove to Hot Water Beach and had our picnic lunch under 2 blooming yellow pahutakawa trees while we watched the surf rescue squad training. They rescued 3 persons 'injured' on the rocks.

After everyone was safe and sound we headed down to where the crowds were gathering and digging near the hot spots.

No one had found hot water bubbling up yet - they were too early and too high, I think. I dug for a little while, but after having waves come up and fill up my hole a few times, we decided to move on down the beach where there were no people. We relaxed, watching a few surfers for an hour or so before turning back to the hot spot. This is what we found…….

Yes, the water in some of the sand dugouts was hot and the water lapping on the edge around our feet was warm. All a lot of hoopla for tourists, we think.

We headed back home along the 'tricky' road that seems a bit easier now to Adele and John's with stories of our day.