Hot🔥 Water💦 Beach 🏖️

Our sleep was ok, but interrupted a bit from noisy doors closing in the hallway of this budget-style hotel/hostel. We took advantage of the communal kitchen and had a simple toasted-croissant with fruit juice for breakfast. No one else was around and we sat on the balcony overlooking the pool and towards the Kuirau Park across the road.

A walk through Kuirau Park on this sunny warm morning after last night's showers was perfect. It is quiet extensive and also contains a number of geological thermal features. The city installed a few small pools for people to relax and soak their feet. The trails circled and wound around the various cordoned off spots of interest. Safety first as walking into sink holes or scalding water wouldn't be fun. There was a section of trail closed due to hot water covering the boardwalk and access points likely due to shifting ground. Before leaving Rotorua, we made a short loop through a portion of town to shop for some gifts.
https://www.rotoruanz.com/things-to-do/family-f…

When choosing our drive on Google Maps, we opted for the slightly longer route north, despite a tolled section of highway as it was more scenic.

We passed through a number small towns, and some very tight gorges with twisty roads. As we approached Katilati, A noticed a lot of plantations along the highway, and realized we were driving through a avacodo🥑 and kiwi🥝 growing area! We did stop at a couple farm stands and bought some avacodo to enjoy for breakfast. The first stop didn't work as we were without small cash for the honesty box. The second stop was at a farm house. All the avocados on the table were too hard, so the owner, G, came over to assist. She graciously found me two avos that were almost over ripe (hidden on the back table) and declined to take any payment for them 🥑💕 She reminisced about a July trip to Canada which was unseasonably cold too.

Mid-afternoon we arrived at Hot Water Beach. We checked into our cabin at the holiday park. As the tide was still low, we hoofed along the path to the beach. A narrow strip of sand was already pock marked with eager bathers digging holes to enjoy the hot water coursing beneath the sand. We didn't rent a spade to dig our own pool, but just as well as the good spots were very conjuested with happy people. Since the weather was so nice out we decided to enjoy the ocean for a splash, and it was warmer than expected. Even located another hot spring with the feet in the water.

Once back at the cabin, we enjoyed cold beverages in the sun on the little front patio before heading off to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Hotties was just a short walk away. We were the first to arrive for dinner, getting the best seat in the house, though they are all pretty epic😁 Started things of with a couple cocktails, then shared a prawn ceviche, capris salad, and the John Dory fish special. Of course we left room for dessert, and enjoyed their peach cobbler with ice cream. The walk home in the dark star-filled sky was lovely and very quiet in this tiny beachside town: not a soul in sight 🌟

The final glass of wine on the patio made for a good laugh when A noticed a chunky in his cup at the last second of a sip and didn't swallow. It was a small roach! He was relieved of his swimming duties and promptly disappeared under the deck boards😜! The room had finally cooled off from the day's warm rays, with the windows open and fan blowing so we retired for the night. Czytaj więcej