Our next stop was in Waikato, the largest region of the North Island. Here you will also find the Cathedral Coves, a beautiful stretch of beach that is reached by a half-hour walk along the cliffs. We stopped here for about 2 hours on our way to our accommodation for the night. The highlight here is not only the white sandy beach by the blue sea, but also the natural rock arch or cave passage that leads to the other side of the bay. The arch resembles a cathedral, which is why this place is called Cathedral Coves, as mentioned above. Some people may also know this place as the filming location of the movie 'The Chronicles of Narnia'!
Under the Cathedral
Rock arch in the background
After lunch here, we continued to our accommodation at Hot Water Beach, where the special thing is that thermal water comes out of the ground as soon as you start digging a hole in the right place, so you can dig your own 'spa pool' if there is no tide. This is because there are approximately 2 km below the sandy beach hot rock layers that are about 170°C hot, remnants of volcanic activity. Unfortunately, the water comes out at most places at a temperature of over 60°C and you cannot directly get into the self-dug pool, but you have to wait for the tide to come to flush colder water into the hot pool - so not as easy as you might think! ;) That's why we couldn't lie in our pool for very long, as the tide came relatively quickly and the too hot water quickly became too cold...
Everyone looks for the best spot to dig their own pool
