Cathedral Cove & Hot Water Beaches

Cathedral Cove
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After a long day of traveling, combined with car troubles and a sinus infection- we made it to the busy town of Whititanga located on the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The rain did not stop...

We woke up early-6:30am. Staying in a room crammed full of 20 people and getting stuck on the top bunk doesn't make for the most relaxing sleep especially when its hot and humid! But like they say, "the early bird gets the worm!" We drove to the other side of town, up a few hills and past a few farms before making it to the small town where Cathedral Cove was.

Hot Water Beach
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A nice early morning hike to wake us up! Coffee at the trailhead and locals running the trail for fun...The sky was breaking and the sun was peaking out. The hike took us along the cliffs and in and out of coves and farmland. The sheep and cows have it pretty good hear, with grazing patches inching close to breathtaking cliffs. The hike took a little under a half hour and the beach was gorgeous. We explored for a bit- but decided it was time to head back into town and call AA (similar to our AAA) in an effort to get our car fixed- it stalled going up hills. Did i mention that all of New Zealand is hills?

Road to Coromandel
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Finally...the sky was completely clear and the sun was shinning down. Everyone was headed to Hot Water Beach, so we made our into town. For the rest of the day, we rented a spade and spent the afternoon digging holes, avoiding washed up jelly fish and walking the beach.

We were glad to be out in the sun- a little too glad. Both of us are pretty red, but too stubborn to addmit we should have applied sunscreen- at least we will come home to Buffalo with a little color!

Tomorrow we are heading to Waitomo Caves for New Years Eve and black water rafting. Wish us luck- they never fixed the car! Good thing I have Nate with me!