Boxing Day we moved from the glorious accommodation of the Hilton Hotel in Auckland to Takapuna Beach, on the north shore of Auckland so a trip across the bridge. We stayed in the Emerald Inn there in this very trendy suburb and it was lovely, bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, dining and living area and balcony. The beach was a two minute walk away as were the bars, restaurants and shops.
I had so many shops to choose from I felt like a kid in a candy store! (Later on in the week we went to the biggest 'Mall' in New Zealand in Albany - huge it was and although we only came away with a bathroom mirror, it was so nice to have so many shops to browse in).
I don't do any shopping like that in Queenstown or Cromwell as we just don't have the choice here.
The next day we got up early and in the pouring rain of Auckland, headed to the Coromandel coast a two hour drive away. Luckily the weather got better the further we went, the sun came out and it was glorious.
"A truly unique Kiwi experience that every New Zealander should experience at least once in their lifetime!
An underground river of hot water flows from the interior of the earth to surface in the Pacific Ocean at Hot Water Beach – a long beautiful white beach located between Tairua and Whitianga. The stunning beach overlooks the Pacific Ocean and offshore Castle Rock, with Pohutukawa lined cliffs at either end of the beach.
Two hours either side of low tide visitors flock to the usually deserted Hot Water Beach to find hot water bubbling through the golden sand. Families, kids and couples can been seen digging their own spa pool in the sand to lie back in and relax while the steam from their hot pool envelops them.
With the ebb and flow of the tide each individually created hot pool is washed away clearing the way for the next influx of visitors."
First we went Tairua for coffee and a walk. We got a little lost on one of the walkways and ended up going through greenways between the local homes eventually coming out on the bay which was lovely. Then we headed to Hahei Beach and the gorgeous Cathedral Cove, our main destination for the day.
After trying hard to find a parking place we gave up and went to the Park and Ride on the outskirts of the area and took advantage of that. The lovely old coach and driver took us up the cliffs to the left of Hahei Beach and dropped us as the start of the walk to the Cove. Altogether the walk took 45 minutes through native bush and forest steadily heading down to the beach (the walk back up wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be except for the first bit off the beach which was a little steep!!) with views of the coast line all the way. The cove is gorgeous and luckily we were there at low tide so could walk through the hole in the rock to both sides of the beach. Because of all the islands there, the view is lovely so we paddled and sat on the beach to eat our lunch before returning to the car park. It is definitely a place I would visit again.
By this time it was about 6 pm and we had to make big decisions about the way to go back.
Cross country would have been the nicest but in the failing light we wouldn't have seen much of the fern and kauri forests so we decided to go back via Coromandel Town and Thames before heading back to Auckland.
We ate here, I just had to have fresh fish of some kind whilst we were here and decided on mussels as they are huge here in NZ and just delicious, done in wine and coconut milk with chilli and lemon with home made toasted bread, yum - Derek had pizza!
We got back around 10.30 and tumbled in to bed rather tired after our long day but I wouldn't have missed it. We were going to back for another day but never did as we headed in another direction north of Auckland instead but one day we may go back and spend a weekend there. We were lucky with the weather, it rains a lot there so we are told but it seems to be raining a lot everywhere in NZ at the mo, it is much sunnier in February and March when the kids go back to school just like at home! Funny that isn't it?
TTFN enough for another day. Take care of each other xxxx