Sunrise @ Cathedral Cove/Hot Water Beach

This morning we got up at 6am got changed and drove in the dark to Cathedral Cove Carpark to do the 40 minute walk there for sunrise. We first saw a sign by the start of the track saying danger track closed. We went down another track that was open but led straight on to the closed track. We decided to take the risk and carry on. The track was absolutely fine all the way. Not sure why it was closed. It only took us 20 minutes as we walked quickly.

The sun was beginning to come up when we arrived at Cathedral Cove. It was beautiful! When it first started coming up it was behind some clouds but they sky was stunning. As it rose up a bit more past the clouds we could see the sun better reflecting on the sea. The beach also had a small waterfall. We spent a while taking in the breathtaking view( see the first 2 photos)

After this we drove back to the campsite . We had breakfast and asked the campsite if we could borrow 2 spades for Hot Water Beach as it said it was free on their website. When we arrived at Hot Water Beach we walked across a river going in to the sea and started digging unfortunately it was not hot. We walked over some rocks but couldn't see where we were supposed to dig. We asked them in the shop and they said it was high tide and you can only do it at low tide which was later around 5pm. We decided it will be worth it to come back.

Next we went to Hahei Beach. It was a long stretch beach with pink sand. We were so lucky with the weather too as it was sunny. Ashleigh found a rope swing attached to a tree (see video) we had lunch in our campervan overlooking this beach.

We went back to Hot Water Beach for 5pm. It was low tide luckily and it was obvious where we needed to dig to make ourselves our own hot pool as other people had already started digging there. Some of the sand we walked across was boiling hot it hurt your feet! We both started digging and straight away you could see the steam and feel the hot water. It was hard work but didn't take too long to do. We relaxed in our own hot pool while the sun came down. What a great experience! I didn't want to leave. We decided we couldn't stay too late as we needed to hand back the spades to the campsite.

In the evening we drove to Corromandel Town. I found a Carpark on campermate app to freedom camp. There were 3 designated spaces for campervans. Luckily there were 2 free spaces. It took us about an hour and 20 mins to get there.Read more