Opito Bay, New Chums & Hot Water Beach

After some well needed sleep and a lie in because jetlag was hitting us hard, we started our day later than usually but no less enthusiastic.
On our agenda for the day were a number of beaches incl. a shortish beach hike.
First stop was the stunning Opito Beach and I think the pictures speak for themselves.
Next we drove on to check out New Chums Beach. Our plan was to do a hike but unfortunately when we arrived the tide was in and the hiking route wasn't actually accessable without walking through shoulder deep water. Waiting for the tide to go out, we enjoyed a delicious pie with a view for lunch and when we returned to the starting point the water was shallow enough for us to wade through.
The hike was only approx. 30 minutes but quite adventurous as it led us along the coast and up a hill through a forest. When we arrived we were rewarded by another stunning beach with crystal clear water.
Before driving down to our next destination we stopped for the world's biggest ice cream, which was most enjoyable but also had to be consumed rapidly as it was melting fast.
High on a sugar rush, we drove to hot water beach. As expected, when we arrived the beach was rammed. We decided to park up and have a look anyway and got some good entertainment out of watching people dig their own pool at the beach. To our surprise at least half the people must have been sitting in cold pools because the hot springs that run under the beach appear to be only covering certain spots. In the end we decided against digging our own pool because it was so crowded and we had already burned our feet several times because the water was so unpredictably piping hot.Read more