Coromandel 1

March 10 - We’re on our way to the Coromandel Peninsula which we have been told is quite beautiful. The guide book told me that Tauranga was a boat lovers paradise, so we stopped to have a look at the boats, but decided not to stay. Tauranga is very big and touristy with lots of high-rises which set my nerves jangling, so on we went to Waihi Beach which could not have been more opposite! There was one shop in town and the beach was almost deserted. Miles and miles of the most gorgeous soft yellow sand and crashing waves onto the rocks - perfect! On the other side of the headland was a small bay which was shielded from the waves and we went there this afternoon to swim. It really hasn’t been warm enough to go in the ocean since Australia, so it was nice to get wet and salty again!
March 11 - Beach day. I went for a long walk along the deserted beach (see picture!) and John relaxed at the campground. We rented boogie boards this afternoon which was fun (these are short surf boards that you lie on in case you didn‘t know!). Pretty quiet day.
March 12 - Drove to Hot Water Beach where, I was told, you could rent a spade, dig a hole at the tide mark and sit in a hot pool of water as there are hot springs under the sand. Rip off! We rented our spade and went to the area on the beach where there were LOTS of other people all digging away. There were also quite a few deserted holes which we tested for toastiness, only to find that the water was only marginally warmer than the sea. When we stayed at Rotorua, the guy at the campground had warned us that Hot Water Beach should be called Tepid Water Beach - the lake beach at Rotorua provides HOT pool if you dig! So we took the obligatory photographs and headed on to Hahei, just up the coast. (We were later told that it depends where you are on Hot Water Beach as to how hot your hole gets. We were in the right general area, but a lady in our latest camp ground told us that you can actually get burned at Hot Water Beach because the water can get so hot - so I guess we just missed by a bit.)
March 13 - Hahei Beach was another wonderful long stretch of golden sand, gorgeous little islands poking out of the sea and blue, sparkly ocean! We really do feel like we are living in a postcard! Cathedral Cove is close by which is another must-see (so called because there is a gigantic archway in the rock which looks like the vault of a cathedral), so we walked there this morning, stopping at Gemstone Bay and Stingray Bay (yes, there were sting rays there). Unfortunately the tour guide (that would be me) didn’t realise that you could swim at Cathedral Cove, so we watched from the shore as everyone else tore their clothes off and jumped into the lovely clear water! Oh, well, the rock formations were amazing and it was a beautiful day, and we’ll be able to swim elsewhere I’m sure. We drove on to Whitianga where there was a little museum mostly about Captain Cook. He used the cove near here, Mercury Bay, to anchor in while observing the transit of Mercury that he needed to set his longitude and put New Zealand on the map. He was so accurate with his plotting of the coastline that most of his measurements are still in use. Then we took the very wiggly and steep coast road on to Coromandel Town where we had a lovely supper and had some nice neighbours who live in Auckland and were very helpful about how to get about there (we will be spending a week there at the end of our time i