The last big day we had in New Zealand we spent exploring the Coromandel Peninsula which was amazing! Like honestly I don't know which was better between the Great Ocean Road and this place..
Above: The Cathedral Cove
Left: Some harbor in a city to be honest I don't remember the name of.
Right: The same harbor but looking the other way. Looked like a cool place to swim, but it was a bit too chilly for my taste. Josh dove in a couple of times though.
Above: Cathedral cove. That huge arch is probably the coolest thing I've walked under.. very humbling. And I would recommend swimming here in a heart beat. DO IT!
Left: Hot water beach. There's a really nifty cafe right near the beach that is really good. (It's called Hot Water Beach Cafe. haha) Go there.
This was also a REALLY cool experience. You did a hole during
key hours of low tide and if you're over the right place, the hole you dig will fill with hot water. and I mean HOT water. One of the holes we sat in, if you dug your fingers or toes beneath the sand surface it would literally burn you. The water felt nice though. It was just crazy feeling all of that heat beneath you.
Left: a photo from the top of Mt. Paku which you can drive most of
way up. There were pretty outstanding views and I especially enjoyed it since it looked like St. Mount Michel in France.. only without the Castle... Same concept though.
And to the Left again: is the cliff side of the beach which is pictured next. We drove up to the top of those
cliffs to look around and wait out the day until the Cathedral Cove became less busy and while standing up there we spotted this gem: Lonely Beach. More like lovely beach it was sooo beautiful! We picked our way along those little cliffs and rocks and even explored a tunnel that went straight under the rock and out the other side (maybe 75-100 feet long with varying height throughout). I swam a little bit but the water was still pretty chilly so we mostly laid out on the beach and read our books. This area is absolutely stunning and not too far from Auckland. I'd make it a Summer destination for sure!
The top picture is another view from Mt. Paku. And the picture just above is Hot Water Beach which we could walk to from our last campsite. The sunset was gorgeous so I had to snap a photo!
And to the left: a weird looking Asparagus plant near Hot Water Beach. I thought it was interesting so here it is. haha
This is the Cathedral Cove again. It's about a 30 min walk down and 30 min walk back up so there is a bit of treking involved but all on nice trails and to be honest.. next time I'll have enough money to rent a kayak for the day.(It was over $100 for seriously 2 hours... bummer) And I definitely want to actually swim at this beach! It was stunning!
Here's a closer picture of the rocks at Lonely Beach... We made the terrible decision to do these barefoot... My feet were so sore by the end and I was in constant fear of cutting my foot on something. But anyways the tunnel was just at the bottom of one of those indents and you just crawled right through! Super neat!
Low and behold! The only jellyfish I saw on my trip.. Needless to say I didn't really swim after this sighting at Hot water beach...
More pictures from the Cathedral cove...
And this beach is typically where you go if the cathedral cove parking lot is full... Supposedly you can park down here and walk an extra 30 minutes on a nice foot path to get there.. We hadn't realized this at the time but we lucked out later and got a car park! Woohoo!
Thus concludes my adventures in Australia and New Zealand! My biggest tip obviously would be to go visit someone who lives there. haha (seriously I might not have been able to do anything without Laura! She was the best help!) Next thing: I haven't looked at prices but I would rent a campervan when in New Zealand. I think that would be the easiest way to see everything and not worry about hotels. Also if you are prone to motion/ car sickness: BRING MEDICATION. For real I hardly ever get car sick whilst state side but holy crap we couldn't go more than an hour in New Zealand without being on some windy mountainous/ hilly road. SO bring some pills... Also bring a bathing suit if you're visiting during their Summer.. and pretty much just wear it under your clothes all the time. There's millions of fun little places to swim and there really aren't too many rules on where you can or can't swim... SO bring em. (also wear sunscreen.. I fried my shoulders in like an hour) Pay the extra money to have data for a gps OR have some sort of gps to get around. Especially in New Zealand where it is critical to know where you're going/ turning since if you miss your turn you're on the wrong road for a quite a while.
PLAY at an animal park of course, with Kangaroos! Seriously they are sooo cool and fun! I think that was my most memorable day in either country. I loved it!
Spend money on food. (Meaning bring plenty of money from your budget for food) Because food is crazy expensive! When eating out, even at like fast food, expect to pay on average $5 more for what you would pay for the same thing in the states.
There are KFCs EVERYWHERE. They're just as gross as the US. McDonalds however.. they are a winner.
That's all! Over~Amanda
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