Coromandel and Hot Water Beach
The airbnb we stayed in was a little chilly in the morning, so we slept in a little, I made some instant coffee for my wife, and we got ready to walk to the nearby beach in Hehei. Only two blocks away, the sand was warm despite the cold breeze—the sun here is no joke. We took off our shoes and wandered down the shore, with the kids getting too far into the water and drenching themselves despite our repeated reminders to "not do that" and "don't go too close to the water." It's like they WANT to be wet and cold or something.
We headed home for nap time and I made all the peanut butter jelly sandwiches I could (5 and a triple decker). We woke up the kids around noon, packed a shovel and a bucket, and headed to the hot water beach area just south of us. I had read about this place a month ago and decided it was near the top of our list of places to go in NZ along with Hobbiton and "Literally anywhere." The drive was about 10 minutes and we arrived about 30 minutes before low tide, which was almost perfect for our needs.
The hot spring seeps through the sand in various places and the people use their shovels to corral the water leaking towards the ocean into little pools that cool down a little and become great relaxing temperature. It took a little while to get the concept down, but once we found a good spot, it was so nice to be at the beach on an almost chilly day and to be surrounded by bath temperature water (or even hot tub temperature).
We played in the water until the tide came in (quite a shock to be in bath water one second then awash in cold sea water the next, but I guess that's the fun and part of the whole "Don't turn your back on the ocean" thing. We ate our sandwiches and headed home. Another short nap and we all walked over to the local brewpub for dinner.
Help, my kids dissolved!
I had fish and chips that were super fresh and well cooked, and the kids ate a Hawaiian pizza. It was a fine way to end an amazing day. We walked home via the local playground and let the kids tire themselves out a bit before we headed home. Teeth brushing, story time, and all three kids are out.
Tomorrow we head to Rotorua, one of the most touristy places in the country where they're going to try to make us watch their Maori dances and eat fancy NZ food. I know it's kinda silly, but I love touristy things like that and I think the kids might like it a lot. We'll also be passing dangerously close to Hobbiton, so we might stop there on the way down, too.