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Hot Water Beach
Nana and Sydney April 14 - 19 - North Island Part II
Another beautiful week made even better by the visit of grandparents.
Tuesday morning we woke up early hoping to have heard from Howard and Jean who were to have arrived in NZ at 4am. We originally had invited them to join us in Miranda for breakfast before heading to Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsula, but when we realized that their flight had been delayed by 2 hours, when we finally heard from them we decided to meet them in Hahei. We arrived at Purangi Gardens Home Stay around 11:30am to greet Howard and Jean. We were allowed to park our camper van on the property which was really nice for visiting. We sat our on their deck eating fresh fruit from the gardens - kiwis, feijoas, cumquats, tamarillos, oranges, limes, and making a plan to go to Hot Water Beach and Cool Waves Cafe for lunch. At the cafe Syd finally found her 16th birthday present - a piece of Kiwi art - a really funky mirror (see next blog entry for photo). The mirror came from a really cool gallery, called Moko, across the street from Hot Water Beach.
Hot Water Beach
The boys in their awesome pool! Hot Water Beach was amazing. It is a beach on the ocean and when the tide goes out (2 hours on either side of low tide), dozens of tourists and locals make their way to the specific area with their shovels to dig a private pool - see photos. It is a stretch of beach about 50 meters wide and the hot water comes from under the ground. The water can get as hot as 62 degrees celsius. After the hot pools, Gregg and the boys went boogie boarding in what we later found out was a very dangerous rip tide beach. Dinner that night was cooked at Howard and Jean's cottage. Our hosts provided us with local beef, and potatoes, kumara, and fresh salad from the garden. The kids spent the rest of the night playing Scrabble.
Wednesday - we spent the morning hanging around Purangi Gardens. We took the row boat out to the mouth of the creek and took a walk on the beach. At 11 we met on the beach in Hahei to board the Hahei Explorer inflatable raft for an hour tour via water. It was stunning scenery - scenes right out of Narnia,
Cathedral Cove, many caves and islands. After lunch in Hahei, Howard and Jean went shopping and we went for a hike and a snorkel. Gregg and the kids went snorkeling at Gemstone Cove. They had their wet suits and really needed them. I stayed on the beach and took photos. Avery spotted a big stingray that everyone was quite excited to see. After the snorkelling we walked to Stingray Beach for a swim and walk on the rocks. Howard and Jean picked us up again at 4:45 and we went to a Cathedral Cove Macadamia farm near the cottage. We tasted, toured and purchased. Back at the house we got the rakes out and went clamming. The boys had a great time collecting clams, hermit crabs and sea stars. Howard was the clam collecting pro. We collected about 100 little clams to accompany our salmon dinner. Gregg and the boys also took the kayaks out and Avery and I jumped on the trampoline.
Thursday - Gregg dragged us out of bed at 6:30 to hike to Cathedral Cove at sunrise. Graham had spent the night with Howard and Jean so it was me, Gregg, Syd and Avery. We got
some of the most beautiful photos!!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Coromandel and headed to Mt Manganui enroute to our next destination of Rotorua. It was a really long day of windy road driving. We had a late and very over due lunch and finally got to Papamoa Beach near Mt. Manganui at around 4pm. Although we had thought that we wanted to see Mt Manganui, by the time we arrived at the Top Ten we were more than happy to stay put. The traffic was bad and we were all very tired of being on the road. The setting was spectacular with gorgeous ocean views and the sound of crashing waves. Howard and Jean had a beautiful Spa unit that we all enjoyed and after a light dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit we played charades before heading back to the camper van for the night - only one more night to go... things were getting pretty smelly by this stage - too many wet things.
Friday - Had a leisurely morning before having to leave to head to Rotorua. The boys rented bikes and we all took turns cycling around the park. At around 11
we headed out with the intention of meeting at Kiwi 360 for a tour of the kiwi farms.
Along the way, we came across the Blokart tracks and rentals. Gregg and the kids all had a go and got really excited about trying to design one of our own. It was pretty cool to "windsurf" on land - see photos. Off to Kiwi 360 for lunch and a tour. It was fun to ride around in little kiwi carts through the orchards and see all the varieties of kiwi and other fruits. After the tour we parted ways and Howard and Jean headed back to the beach. We went on to Rotorua for a quick overnight there. In Rotorua we opted for yet another Top Ten - It is nice to know that you won't be disappointed with the holiday park as they are all 4 star rated. The boys took a quick hot tub and then we went off to view the thermal pools. Syd and I soaked our feet, we watched the mud bubble, and smelled the sulphur. At 5:30 we were picked up for the Te Puia Maori experience. This was a very touristy Maori Cultural experience.
Since there is so much more Maori influence on the North Island, and we were limited on time, we felt like this would be a good choice for an evening's entertainment. It included the traditional greeting, the show that included dancing, the Haka and singing. The new part for us was the traditional Hangi dinner of lamb, chicken, pork, beef all cooked in a pit on hot rocks. It was a buffet dinner and there was NO shortage of food. After dinner we hopped on a small tram for a ride up to the Geyser. It was really cool to see it in action. Unfortunately the night pictures don't do it justice. We were served hot chocolate and we sat on naturally heated benches, which was really nice as it was quite cold. This was a nice way to cap off our final North Island adventure.
Saturday consisited of a long day of driving and a flight that was delayed by 4 hours, getting us back to Christchurch at around midnight!
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