A Series of Touristy Events

We stayed the night in a hostel in Whitianga, near Coromandel town. Hostels are pretty cheap here-- for a dorm room you'll throw down around $25 NZ a night. Given that each of those dollars is worth maybe 57 cents, it's not a bad deal. Awfully friendly, too.

When we went to check out in the morning, we asked about Hot Water Beach. I'm delighted we did, because we learned that the tide had started to come in an hour ago and we had to boogie. When we got there the beach was small and shrinking, but the urgency had been overstated. We had a good hour to hang out in what has to be the coolest, most gimmicky beach on earth.

Hot Water Beach sits atop a hot spring. What this means is that, after bringing or renting a shovel, you can dig yourself a hot tub. The water that comes up from below is ridiculously hot-- so hot, in fact, that you have to either dig within reach of the waves or get busy with a bucket to get a tolerable mix of hot spring and cold ocean water. A bit crowded when we went there, yes, but totally boss.

Then we went to Cathedral Cove. It was a bit of a hike, but nice enough. The gothic arch was better on the other side, but this one had a better view. It was a bit underwhelming, but after digging your own hot tub, many things would be.

(Incidentally, you can see all my pictures here or here if you're so inclined).