Cooks Beach

After leaving Hobbiton in the late morning we drove for a few hours North towards the Coromandel Peninsula. We stopped for our picnic lunch with a view near to the town of Hikuai, looking down from the mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

We couldn't stop for too long as we had a schedule to keep to, a rarity for us lately! The reason for this was because we were headed for one of New Zealand's most famous beaches, Cathedral Cove, and we needed to beat the tide. When we arrived in the quaint seaside town of Hahei we found the main car park to be tiny and therefore full, so instead we parked next to the beautiful beach but this meant we had doubled our walk to get to Cathedral Cove! Once we'd set off we realised the longer walk wouldn't be a problem really as the views we were being presented with at every turn along the coastal track were breathtaking, passing three other bays and a peaceful clifftop field dedicated to the memory of lost servicemen and women.

Once we'd completed the hour-and-a-bit walk we descended a very steep staircase to the soft sand beach and we were greeted by two things: a throng of other visitors who covered every space the cove offered, and the incredible archway that gave the cove it's name. We'd timed our arrival well as it was low tide so we walked through the arch where we could see tide marks a few metres above us with the highest point of the sea-arch about 15m above us!

The cove also has another small cave that tunnels about 10m into the cliff at beach level which we entered (at high tide it would disappear entirely!) and adjacent to this there is fresh water cascading down from the top of the cliff and it runs down a root system of one of the trees creating a very cool natural shower!

After we'd enjoyed the sights of the beach we began the walk back along the coast to Hahei - this time it was harder going with more uphill, and in the afternoon heat we began to flag. Fortunately our next stop when we were back at the car was to drive 15 minutes to a beach where nature provides the savvy with a free spa... It's name is Hot Water Beach and that describes it perfectly!

What you have to do is walk along the sand until you see water bubbling up through the sand - careful though, it'll be hot! This phenomenon occurs because deep below the surface is an aquifer that is so close to where the lava from an old volcano remains super hot, heating the water in the aquifer and it finds an outlet through the sand!

We arrived and hired a spade from a cafe before crossing a lagoon to the main beach area. Although it wasn't quite the peak time to be visiting (again because of the tide) we could see a throng of people and dug-up sand. As we got closer we immediately saw dozens of people lying in shallow pools of hot water, having dug themselves spa pools right in the middle of the beach! You could divide the pools area roughly into three stretches running from sea to cliff face, with the middle stretch full of empty pools. We didn't understand why so many people would go to all the effort of digging out a few tonnes of heavy, wet sand only to then not relax in the water as a reward - we were happy to do so for them, however as soon as we stood in them we realised just how hot the water was, it practically scalded our feet!

Presumably it was our comic hot-footed hopping in and out of a few pools that drew the generosity (or pity?) of a couple of guys who offered us their pool as they were leaving. It only took a little digging out to make it deep enough for us both to be able to lie just under the water and it was beautifully warm, just like a hot and sandy bath! As we began to relax into our pool we watched others make the same mistake as us with the super heated pools, and then to find an unused spot to settle in. There were probably nearing 100 pools in the area and all were steaming gently, even though the air felt perfectly fine to be in. It was a truly bizarre experience to be in hot water on a beach, but we really enjoyed our bath!

I'd gotten quite hot while in the bath so decided to hop into the ocean to cool off, which proved to be very refreshing as the ocean obliged by pummelling me with a handful of waves. I'd read that the beach is amongst the four most deadly beaches to swim off in all of New Zealand, so didn't go much beyond 15m from the tide line when I spotted a big stingray drifting around in the wave a metre or so away from me! It was cool to see but I was out of the water as fast as I could be, much to Beth's entertainment!

That evening we stopped en-route to our Airbnb at a vineyard known for it's kiwi cider and stone baked pizza. As we sat in their orchard chomping our yummy dinner we enjoyed the shade from the evening sun given to us by a kiwi tree, laden with hundreds of them. A great end to a great day.

The following morning before we began our journey to Coromandel Town on the West Coast of the peninsula we made a quick detour to the beach that gave the village we had stayed in it's name, Cook's Beach. A stunning stretch of golden sand, running toward the mouth of a river nearby, it was certainly beautiful and also is the location of where Captain Cook observed the transit of mercury, a significant feat for the time.

After a short walk on the beach we began our drive and as usual found ourselves stopping on the way to take photos, so when we arrived we had a leisurely lunch and look around the town before going down the road to Driving Creek Railway. I seriously doubt any of you will have heard of this train line as it's in the depths of a bush reserve, it's only 3km in length and it's destination is the top of a nearby hill. Doesn't sound too impressive really, but you'd be very wrong to think so. The whole track was laid by hand by a man named Barry Brickell and it took him over 30 years, including building bridges, stations and an incredible hill top tower, named the Eye-Full Tower (get it?)

The reason the railway came to exist is because Barry was a keen potter and wanted an efficient way to bring clay from further up the hill that he could use in the pottery he established there, so he began recycling old two gauge track, sleepers and carts from the disused mines in the area and it grew and grew, having now carried more than one million passengers! We climbed aboard the tiny train along with another 20 people and the train pulled away, chugging its way slowly up the hillside. It is an incredible feat that Barry made the whole track including the two tunnels and a two story bridge that the train passed along, and it was made yet more impressive by the bush that he has begun to nurture on the land surrounding the track as he planted over 25,000 native trees there to replace the introduced species that he removed from the area! The bush didn't obscure the incredible views all the way out to the coast and the Hauraki Gulf, making for a very picturesque halfway point on our journey before we boarded the train again to descend following the same route in reverse. It had been a great afternoon and demonstrated the motivation of one man but also the great motivation and inspiration that has been given to many people who met and worked with him.

We left Coromandel town and followed the coastal road to leave the Coromandel peninsula too. Our next stop was New Zealand's capital, Auckland.

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