The Coromandel Peninsula

Anne here…

Three years ago, it was a rushed visit to the Coromandel. This time we had a lot more time to explore a bit more and really appreciate its beauty.

We rented a house in Hahei with the most stunning views and slept, with the windows open, listening to the waves crashing gently on the beach.

The walk to Cathedral Cove is one of the most popular activities nearby. But the description on TripAdvisor underplayed the steepness, up and down, of the path. My FitBit calculated that we walked the equivalent of 53 flights of stairs.
But we made it. Just! And it was worth it. Looking through the gigantic stone arch into Cathedral Cove was a classic view and very beautiful. The whole bay with blue sea and islands dotted around, drew regular gasps of appreciation from all of us.

Then in the evening we went to Hot Water Beach. It was both magical and very surreal. The sun was just starting to set, and bathed the beach in a lovely soft light. Most of the beach was empty apart from a few hardy surfers. But then in one fairly small area there were about 80 to 100 people – strangers – all clustered together, digging holes in the sand!

Hot geothermal water flows just under the surface, from cliffs at the back of one part of the beach. In the right places, you can dig into the sand at low tide and easily fill a pool in the sand with either pleasantly warm, or scaldingly hot geothermal water.

There is lots of laughter and community spirit as friends and strangers share the very surreal experience of very hot water running down a beach into the sea. One of life’s memorable moments. I loved it.

Once the sun had set, Paul preferred the absolutely awesome view of the Milky Way and Jupiter in the inky black sky.