A special day at the beach

Hello dear ones,

Today (17.10) was a beautiful day. Lina and I woke up to a great view and enjoyed our breakfast in bed. After our morning routine, we set off. The people from the vineyard were so kind to give us some insider tips for the area and a shovel. Some of you might be wondering why we need a shovel, but I'll tell you later.

First, we drove to Shakespeare's Cliff, from where you have a wonderful view of Lonely Bay, a small but great sandy beach, and the other side of the Coromandel. After enjoying the view of Lonely Bay, we spontaneously decided to follow the small hiking trail down to the bay and explore it. Back at the car, we happened to see that you could also walk to Cook's Beach, our next destination, from there, so we left the car and followed this hiking trail as well. Cook's Beach was much bigger than the previous bay but just as empty. After enjoying the sea air, we walked back to our car.

Next, we drove to Hot Water Beach. There is an underground hot spring running along this beach. When the tide is low and you have a shovel, you can dig a small bathtub with hot water. However, if you are too greedy, you can burn yourself quickly, as the water sometimes comes out boiling hot. It's quite annoying when all the small puddles were cold before and suddenly you step into a hot one. But don't worry, everything went well and Lina and I dug a bathtub with very pleasant water. So, despite only 17 degrees and a light wind and clouds, we were able to stay in the water in our bikinis for a good hour. After splashing around enough, we walked back to the car and after quickly rinsing off, unfortunately the water from the showers was not warm, we continued. Next, we drove to Cathedral Cove. There is a beautiful but quite hilly hiking trail leading down to the beach, where the water has carved a passage into a rock that resembles a cathedral. It's simply impressive what nature can do. After exploring this beach enough and letting the sun shine on our bellies in the wind-protected area, we headed back. After arriving back at the car, we made our way back to the winery to return the shovel and from there to Thames, where we could enjoy a warm shower in an outdoor pool. After being clean again, we headed to our camping spot for the day, a parking lot by the sea halfway between the Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland.

Tomorrow, we will head north and explore the area north of Auckland for the next few days. You can read about our experiences there in the next post.

Until then,

Your Jessi