We left our random accommodation in Orere Point in the early morning to head over to Coromandel Peninsula. The two activities we were heading over to do are both quite touristy, but we’ve been looking forward to them both since seeing all the pictures.

We had about a 2 hour drive on some of the windiest rounds I’ve ever driven on before we got to our campsite for the night. We weren’t going to risk not having checked in again so we headed straight to our campsite, checked in and then headed off to Cathedral Cove.

If you’ve ever seen pictures of the Coromandel region, I would guess that you’ve seen pictures of Cathedral Cove. You can only reach the cove by walking (around 40 minutes), kayaking or by boat. We decided we didn’t want to get the passenger ferry as most of the fun of getting somewhere beautiful like this is the effort it takes to get there. There were so breathtaking views along the walk and some even better views once we made it to the cove.

As we walked back up towards the car we stopped at Stingray Bay. It would appear that most people skip over this beautiful cove and head straight to Cathedral Cove, so we had it to ourselves for most of the time we were there.

We got back in Maverick and headed into Hahei to get some food and to have a look at the beach there. We enjoyed a takeaway pizza, some icecreams and another play on a tree swing.

(look how happy I am).

It was about time to head over to Hot Water Beach. Hot Water Beach is a naturally geothermal beach where you can utilise the hot water that comes up from the ground to build your own hot tub. We had heard that it was a good idea to get to the beach about 2 hours before low tide as the thermal water comes up around 2 hours before and after low tide. We hired a spade, got into our swimmers and headed down to the beach. Despite being 2 hours early, the beach was PACKED!! We couldn’t believe it. We spotted another British couple and decided to join forces with them in digging our hole. The boys took the lead and dug right next to this super impressive pool that a local had made. However, our pool wasn’t getting a lot of hot water coming up into it, so it was slightly cooler than lukewarm. Simon decided we needed to move so we moved closer to the middle of the thermal activity where it was actually TOO hot. Simon was jumping around on the sand trying to find a spot. We decided we could create a hot water channel down to the cooler pool and eventually it would be a perfect temperature. It was. We sat in the pool for about an hour and a half enjoying the scenery and chatting to the British couple, then an American couple and then some guys from Switzerland. We were super jealous as some of the other pools had beers and we really started to crave a beer. Right towards the end of our time we both ran into the sea for a cold plunge and then back to our hot pool. The pool was about the temperature of a bath just after you’ve run it. Perfect!! For me, a bath lover, it was a great way to end a lovely day.

We went back to our campsite, where the other British couple were staying too, had a couple of rum and cokes and chatted away. A really lovely evening and day!!!