As Rich I and I drove away from Paihia, our sadness about leaving was mirrored by the sad weather. The sky was cloudy and the rain fell during our two hundred and sixty mile, six hour drive to the Coromandel peninsula.

We were headed to Whitianga on the east coast of the peninsula and the town nearest to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Although the weather wasn’t great, the views were. As we crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge we had a fantastic view of the city, harbour and marina. As we drove up into the Coromandel peninsula our surroundings turned to lush green vegetation, with winding roads making the journey slow going.

View of Auckland from Auckland Harbour Bridge

The lush vegetation appreciated all the rain

Our wet and cloudy journey to Coromandel

There wasn’t a huge amount to do in Whitianga so we finished the day off with a nice home cooked dinner and a movie called Lucy.

The following morning we headed off to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. Although the skies were cloudy, it was a much brighter day and as we followed the coastal path to Cathedral Cove the views out across to the off shore islands were beautiful.

It was a cloudy day for our walk

Views of the off shore islands

Stunning views of islands on the coastal walk

The walk was easy going, a forty minute track along the coast through Gemstone Bay, Stingray Bay, across headland and down into Mares Leg Cove. This is where an archway through the cliff leads to Cathedral Cove beach.

It was a popular tourist spot, we passed lots of people on the walk and there were a lot of people on the beach and under the archway. Although it was certainly a scenic spot, compared to the quiet tranquility of the south island, this place was far too busy for us.

We walked back along the coastal track to our car and headed to Hot Water Beach, a natural spa with hot water bubbling up through the sand from two underground fissures. Anyone can go to the beach, dig a hole in the sand and let the hot water fill up the hole to create a natural spa pool.

Unfortunately, this can only be done two hours either side of low tide due to the location of the fissures and we arrived at Hot Water Beach when the tide was high!

Sadly for us, our natural spa experience was going to have to wait until another day.

Sonia at Cathedral Cove

Rich on Mares Leg Cove beach

The archway through to Cathedral Cove beach

Sonia on the walk back up from Cathedral Cove

Hot water beach