13th December
After my breakfast stop I drove over some winding mountains, through beautiful forest & into the Coromandel peninsula, arriving at Hot Water Beach.....
.....where I discovered why it is called this
There are two hot springs, heated from hot volcanic rock below. The water bubbles up towards the sand & at low tide, if you dig a hole you can make a sand spa
Lots of people were doing this, it was funny.
Sadly I didn't have a spade.
The beach was beautiful and I had a walk along it to a small estuary which was lovely and peaceful.
Fascinating that the heat source that formed these rocks still remains below the sand.
After a bit of sunbathing & lunch I went to explore another beach, Hahei, which was also stunning.
More sunbathing & a dip in the ocean.
The waves were really strong, and I found it hard to swim but fun being sloshed about!
Then a walk along the coast to Cathedral Cove
The only worry was where to stay. It sounds like they are quite strict about where you camp & this area is highly protected - and rightly so as the nature here is precious & beautiful.
The place on wiki camps had huge signs saying no camping so that was no good!
There is only one holiday park, which I had a peep in, but reception was closed when I got there & it had a barrier at the entrance, so you can't just drive in.
I'm currently in a layby with a perfect view
I Just hope I don't get fined or arrested 😕
At least its peaceful here. The campsite sounded busy & noisy
No comments:
Post a Comment