Hobbiton and Hot Water II

Digging pools at hot Water Beach, temps up to 40 deg C!!

After we hiked out of Cathedral Cove back to Hahei, we grabbed shovels, checked the tides again and off to Hot Water Beach. This beach gets its name because at low tide you can dig a hole in a certain area of the beach and the hole will fill up with HOT water creating your own private bathtub. Yet another amazing geologic feature of this Island. Thinking we had planned this just right with tides, not taking into account many others are also on school holidays and it was a Sat, by the time we reached the hot beach, it was crowded.  Not much room to pool in, but
the kids made an honest go of it, finding the water
almost too hot to relax in.  Tide was soon to come

in as well, so waves quickly doused our pools.   If the hot pools weren't great enough, the raging surf made up for it.  Hot Water Beach is also a great surf spot and before I could turn my head the boys had grabbed boogey boards and off they went, no wetsuits this time.   They boarded for hours and when done, bodies were icy and bright red, huge smiles from the big waves ridden.


After a long day we settled into our cozy cabin with dinner and a couple movies.  Have to say if nothing else I am spending more time with the kids here than I would at home, for better or worse :)  At home we are so caught up in the little things and distractions and here we have each other and activities that we are sharing, swimming, boarding, running, hiking, watching movies, playing cards, just hanging out, eating together.  Maybe too much time together at times, but in my better moments I know this is why we are here!

Last day of our venture saw us driving south along the coast back home.  Stopped at some viewpoints, a cafe, and an ice cream shop.  Took a spin through Whakatane, (pronounced Fak-a-ta-nay) where our friends the Angells spent 6 months living and working this past year.  Another great surf town with some local color  Best find of the day was walking through the forest out to Oputere beach, with only 3 other people there, it was  a nice contrast to Hot Water Beach the day before.  Kms of beach of white sand, nice rolling waves, dappled sunshine all to ourselves.  Noah braved the waves as the rest of us enjoyed a walk along the shore.  Definitely need to get back there!

Noah taking on waves at Oputere Beach

Handstands on the sand

Made it home eventually, tired and filled up from our adventure.  Felt like we had been gone a couple weeks, and could have indeed spent that up in this lovely peninsula.  also realizing how lucky we are to be where we are, how fortunate I was to land the job here in this town...perfect for us in so many ways!!

Doesn't get much better than this!  Oputere Beach