Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove

I stayed at Whitianga for a short while. My hostel was facing the beach, which was right across the road, and should you want to, you can watch the sunrise every morning.

Growing ears to the general hostel chatter I joined myself to a group that was going to rent a car to go to Hot Water beach (because transport and ferry were both so expensive and non flexible with times).
We stopped at some other beach first, which was hailed to be one of the best beaches in the world. We dipped our toes in the water and decided to beat it out of there. Ocean water temperature in the spring is "invigorating".



We beat it to Cathedral Cove then. The bush walk down was pretty pleasant, and the high noon sun was beating us out of our clothes even before we got all the way down to the sand.
The area of Cathedral Cove is pretty amazing. There is even a small waterfall where you can have a romantic picnic. We loved it.

 

Hot water beach was different than we expected. For one thing, it was much hotter thought it would be. I was thinking something like warm sand, but it was hot enough to scald. Hot enough to cook your 2 veg and meat should you be careless enough to sit down before feeling the water first. That's why, I recommend dipping a toe in first to check. Some woman was even cooking some eggs and potatoes. Definitely a unique picnic idea!

We did bring some shovels with us from the hostel, but we didn't need to dig our own hole. We sorta took over someone else's 'nest'. Even without digging a hole to reach the water, some parts of the sand were just too hot to step on.

I all just reinforces my original impression of New Zealand that it's like Jurassic Park but without the dinosaurs.





The way back was just the perfect ending to the day. We stopped at a local winery. I wish I just remembered the name. The owner was a real character. He let us taste everything. We even stayed to have pizza with wedges (large potato fries). I only like booze when its sweet, and that place had enough fruitiness to match the owner. Feijoa wine with spritzer (soda) is a must try. I think most people decided to get a bottle of that after trying out most everything else.
Oh, I love some of the kiwi jibes at the aussies.

Q:What's the difference between Australia and Yoghurt?
A:Yoghurt has more culture.