New Zealand is expecting an Antarctic blast. The weather forecast for here says rain and thunderstorms all day with very high winds from lunch, however, hot water beach seems to have avoided all of that with the sun out most of the morning.
Hot water beach…..what better way to start the day than digging a hole in the sand which then fills with water to sit in, with thermals heating the sand/water….. so much that you burn your……….ouch! You have to do it two hours either side of high tide, which was just after 8 in the morning. It sounded so touristy we almost didn’t do it, but hey when in NZ……! Surprisingly, being out of season and with the expected weather, then it was not at all touristy, and was a great experience. Sorry the photos are on go pro….!
Back to the chalet for a shower, give them back their spade ($10 hire at the beach….once the shops were open, so it is the done thing for hotels to have a stash to lend) and late checkout.
News is that a town west of mount Taraniki has been wiped out by a cyclone and heavy snow has fallen on the south island.
We continue on our tour round the Coromandel Penninsula which is not too bad considering. Quite sunny, just very windy and the occasional downpour.
I don’t need to mention the amazing scenery again?
Thought we should stop for a coffee to work out the plan of action and ended up staying!
Check out the size of the local Coromandel mussels!
….. and then headed up to the hotel just north of Auckland shortly after 8pm thankful to be out of the wind in a sturdy hotel rather than the chalet we had last night. The wind really picked up about 7pm to 55 mph!
Heather and Mark's travel blog 