Coromandel Peninsula

For the last leg of our trip, we spent four days on the Coromandel Peninsula, an area of the north island known for its beaches. We started out in Coromandel Town, where we stayed in an awesome villa for a couple of nights. It was our own little cottage with a full kitchen and many of the comforts we have missed being on the move for close to three weeks. We spent some time travelling along the west coast of the peninsula, winding along the pacific highway and stopping to check out some of the scenic, rocky beaches. We also took some time to relax and unwind, reading on our porch overlooking the stream where gold was first discovered in the area many years ago. We next headed to the east coast of the peninsula to the Hahei/Cooks Beach area. When we arrived, we stopped at Hahei Beach, then did a hike from there over to Cathedral Cove, a beautiful, isolated beach with a huge archway overhead that made for cool views.

The next morning, for our last full day in New Zealand, we woke up early and headed over to Hot Water Beach. There are unique thermal springs below the sand… if you arrive there within one hour of low tide, you can dig into the sand above the springs and create your own hot thermal pools. It was an interesting, fun experience digging our own little pool, which involved burning our feet quite frequently… I could not get over how hot some of that water was! In the end, a nice family with a big pool offered it to Paul and me as they were leaving. We definitely enjoyed lounging and relaxing in a natural hot-tub of sorts. We spent much of our last day relaxing on Cooks Beach, a pretty, sandy beach great for taking long walks. We also hiked down to Lonely Bay, a small beach covered in shells, and up to Shakespeare Point for great views of the beaches and surrounding pastures in all directions.

Overall, this was the most amazing trip. The beauty in New Zealand is overwhelming, and I am so grateful we were able to see it for ourselves.