Coromandel 🌞

Since our work was not far from Coromandel, that was naturally our first destination after tying up all the kiwi plants. So we went to Hot Water Beach and could feel the really hot water on our feet even without a shovel. It can get up to 60°C and that can be painful :D The reason for this is hot layers of rock deep inside the earth. So we dug a few holes with our feet and spent a lot of time at the beautiful beach. For the first time in our lives, we also saw a 'halo' there. This is a collective term for atmospheric optical effects that arise from the reflection and refraction of light on ice crystals. You can see what it looks like in the pictures :)

Our next stop was Cathedral Cove. The path there alone was impressive. Once again, we had the best weather and sunshine. We had pretty much peace and quiet in the cove itself, as there were only a few people there, so we could take beautiful pictures and once again lie on the beach and enjoy life, especially the view.

When we arrived at today's campsite, we parked next to a Honda Odyssey that looked exactly like Jochen's. But since it was his second-to-last day in New Zealand and we had already said goodbye, we didn't really believe it could be him. Pascal got out and checked the toilet situation and suddenly Jochen was standing at the car. That was a great reunion and we spent a nice evening playing Uno, talking, and using up his last alcohol reserves. On top of that, we had a beautiful starry sky with a view of the Milky Way and Orion. The next morning, we had breakfast together and then said goodbye again (for the second time). Jochen wanted to spend the last night with a friend.

We did the Pinnacles Walk. It was sometimes so exhausting that I didn't think I would make it all the way to the top. The last kilometer was all stairs going up and at the very end, you had to climb a little bit. But you were rewarded with a great view of the bush and in the distance, the ocean. Then we went all the way back. It took us a total of 6 hours. In the evening, we drove from campsite to campsite again because there was no space available for us on any of them. On the last one we targeted, everything was already full as well, but we spotted a car that looked familiar to us. We could hardly believe it, but there was Jochen again :D There are coincidences... So he gave us his spot and parked on the grass. Since he had to be at the airport very early the next morning, he left before the ranger came to collect the fee. So we spent another nice evening together :)

When the bad weather started again, we left Coromandel and headed towards Ohope.