the route

Saturday, March 29

Whangamata to Hahei. Deeper into the Coromandel Peninsula. Yet another beautiful day. We climbed and descended repeatedly, bouncing on and off the coast, catching tantalizing glimpses of crystal blue water and distant islands. Eventually we reached our first destination -- Hot Water Beach. This was a wacky place. A hot water spring burbled away right under the beach. It was quite an odd sensation to have the cold surf crashing around your legs while beneath the sand your feet baked away.
Next stop, only a few kilometers up the road was Cathedral Cove. This was a magnificent stretch of rugged coastline accessible only by boat or foot. After an hour-long hike we descended down to a small sandy beach with sheer white rock walls rising dramatically all around us. An enormous natural archway cut deeply through one of the cove walls forming a passageway (accessible only at low tide) to another equally stunning cove. In both coves, huge rocks stood stranded out in the water -- slowly being shaped and softened by the crashing waves. We stood on the beach watching the light fade, entranced by this amazing place.

See the map for this day

	Saturday, March 29
	Whangamata to Hahei. Deeper into the Coromandel Peninsula. Yet another beautiful day. We climbed and descended repeatedly, bouncing on and off the coast, catching tantalizing glimpses of crystal blue water and distant islands. Eventually we reached our first destination -- Hot Water Beach. This was a wacky place. A hot water spring burbled away right under the beach. It was quite an odd sensation to have the cold surf crashing around your legs while beneath the sand your feet baked away. Next stop, only a few kilometers up the road was Cathedral Cove. This was a magnificent stretch of rugged coastline accessible only by boat or foot. After an hour-long hike we descended down to a small sandy beach with sheer white rock walls rising dramatically all around us. An enormous natural archway cut deeply through one of the cove walls forming a passageway (accessible only at low tide) to another equally stunning cove. In both coves, huge rocks stood stranded out in the water -- slowly being shaped and softened by the crashing waves. We stood on the beach watching the light fade, entranced by this amazing place.