- Chapter 04

Since our last entry, we have made some progress.

First, we went on a little "introductory hike." The goal was Cathedral Cove, which was about an hour's walk from our campsite.
The hiking trail took us up and down sand, roots, and stairs.

Cathedral Cove is a rock that is split from the ground to about halfway up the huge rock. If the tide isn't too high, you can walk right through it. Cathedral Cove is located in a kind of bay, where other rocks are also scattered.

The next day, we left the campsite because we urgently needed a place to shop. First, we had to get food and cartridges for our gas stove. However, the latter turned out to be a bigger problem than expected. No one informed us beforehand that you can only buy gas in New Zealand if you're 21 or older. So how are we supposed to cook?

Simple: First, you look for what you need in the store - in this case, the gas cartridges. Then, you wander around the store with a pack of gas canisters under your arm and observe people to select who might be willing to buy the gas for you. Once you've picked a target person, just approach them and explain the situation as seriously as possible. And voila, an hour and a half later, you've done it.

Well... that's just part of it. Thanks to the nice man from England, we were able to continue our journey to the next campsite. There, we decided to visit Hot Water Beach the next day.

It should be noted that you should check the tides there. The hot springs are only accessible for about two hours around low tide. So, three hours before the estimated time, armed with two shovels, we set off. We parked our car and walked along the beach towards the crowd.

Everyone was digging frantically, while we stood there somewhat clueless amidst all the commotion. Eventually, we also tried to dig a spa area. Unfortunately, no warm water appeared. A couple who was leaving the beach offered us their hole. We occasionally discovered a few hot streams, but they were so deep in the sand that our attempts to dig deeper seemed futile. So, we tried a third spot. This time, more successful. Several springs warmed the water in the wide pool, and we enjoyed the hot water for a while. After the slowly rising tide declared our visit over, we went for a swim in the cold sea and then headed back to the campsite.

The next day, our route continued to Matarangi. After parking the car, we took a walk along the coast to a long, deserted sandy beach. We strolled along there for a while, admiring the many shells and birds. That's how another beautiful day ended.