We were enjoying our morning latte and listening to the sound of the surf outside our patio window when an email arrived in my inbox. It was from our snowplow company notifying us that they would be sending the tractors out later today because we were expecting another 10 – 15 cm of snow. Then I realized we only had another four days before we would be leaving this, for that.
The view as we enjoyed our lattes today
After a leisurely morning, we walked along the waterfront to enjoy the sun and to check out places for dinner tonight. As we walked, Jan spotted a fairy house in a tree by the sidewalk.
Fairy House
Later, when we were feeling a bit peckish, we ducked into a waterfront cafe for couveture, beef carpaccio salad (the beef carpaccio in New Zealand is unlike any I’ve ever had before, and it is amazing) and a glass of NZ Rose. We started joking about the snowplow email we had received, and before we knew it, we were checking NZ accommodations for next year.
Lunch
After lunch we changed into our bathing suits and headed for the beach (yet again).
On the beach
New Zealand beaches are kinda the same, and yet they are all different. This beach had more shells than all the previous beaches combined. And the seabirds loved it – they had a buffet laid out for them and they were taking advantage of it.
Seabirds at the buffet
You could see them probing for lunch.
Lunch menu
And when they found something, all their friends wanted a piece of the action.
Mine!
On most beaches, all that you see is one half of the shell, but here, it’s clear the shells have been recently opened by the seabirds. This picture shows a bunch of freshly opened shells.
Leftovers from lunch (for the birds)
There were so many shells of all types that I may go into more detail on a future post. But for today, I’ll end with this picture that seems to show a bunch of shells cemented together. Interesting.
Aliens???
Tomorrow we are on the move again, heading across the Coromandel to the west side. We’ll see what we find there.
The name might not be all that imaginative, but it is accurate. Hot Water Beach sits on top of a thermal spring that pushes hot water up through the sand. If you dig a hole in just the right spot, you can create your own little hot tub.
The guide books recommend that you visit within two hours of low tide for the best experience. That meant that today, the best time was between noon and 4:00 pm. Our travel schedule aligned perfectly with this, so we picked up sandwiches as we were leaving Waihi and headed north. The road had stunning views at every turn. This is a polite way to say that the road was narrow, winding, and clinging to the side of mountains all the way. I’m exaggerating, of course, but not by much. It was impressive, but not relaxing. So when we arrived, we took a moment to sit in the shade (in our beach chairs) and enjoy the views over the beach.
Picnic lunch at Hot Water Beach
After lunch, we changed into our swim suits, applied lots of sunscreen, rented a spade, and went in search of the hot water.
Spa hunting
It is a large beach, and there aren’t any signs telling you where to dig. But if you follow the crowd, it is soon obvious.
Where do you think the hot water is?
We found a promising spot and went to work.
Building a hot tub
It isn’t as easy as it looks. As you dig deeper, the water coming up through the sand, pushes more sand into the hole. But eventually we had it deep enough to enjoy. One reason we stopped digging was that as we dug deeper, the sand and the water got hotter.
DIY hot tub
Sitting in our little hot tub was a little like sitting on a hot water bottle. A very hot, hot water bottle. When a particularly large wave washed into our pool, it brought it back to the perfect temperature. But soon it was hot again, so I started to experiment, because … I’m me. I discovered that the hot spots were very localized. If you moved less than a meter away, the water in the hole might be cold. So I expanded the hot tub trying to get the temperature just right by spanning zones. For a while, my feet were too hot, and my shoulders were too cool. I’ll let you figure out where it was just right.
By the time we left, it was getting very crowded.
Hot Water Beach
Hot Water Beach is definitely worth a visit, but I’m not sure we’ll be back. It’s an interesting novelty, but not as nice as our day at the beach yesterday.
When we got back to the car we changed and then headed to our hotel in Whitianga. We booked a room looking out over the beach.
The view from our room
The water and the wind, along with the drive, was more tiring than we expected, so we decided to eat in tonight. We have a small kitchen, pate, a bottle of lovely Riesling from our winery tour in Blenheim, and the sound of the waves from our open patio door. It’s a good way to end the day.
Yesterday, Jan confessed she was getting a little tired of the sunshine and warm weather, and starting to look forward to being home. Today, as we were walking barefoot through the surf, Jan turned to me and said “forget what I said yesterday”.
Waihi Beach
Part of the problem yesterday was that it was a travel day. We’ve been generally spending two nights at each stop and then moving on. It was a conscious decision on our part because we wanted to check out a lot of towns to discover places that were worth visiting again. And it has worked, even if it does get tiring. Every time we think we’ve found the best-ever beach, we find an even better one. That happened again today.
Waihi Beach
As we were walking on the sand, the waves occasionally washed over our feet, so we would move higher up the beach. The Variable Oystercatchers were also walking along the sand, and when the water came in, the oystercatchers would also run up the beach toward dry sand … just like we were doing.
Variable Oystercatchers
This beach was very flat with a shallow grade, which makes it a very wide beach, perfect for walking or swimming. I think it was even better than the beach at Mount Maunganui. As the water drained out after a large wave, the surface of the wet sand was like a mirror. Here’s another picture with a reflection, similar to the one from yesterday.
Reflections in the sand
At the very beginning of our trip, when we were in Queenstown, we bought two folding camp chairs so we could sit on the beach. We’ve been here four weeks and the chairs haven’t moved from the back seat of our rental car. We just haven’t found an opportunity to use the chairs. That changed today!
A quiet afternoon reading on the beach
I know we could sit and read all day at home, in front of the fireplace. And yet, somehow, it just isn’t the same as sitting with your bare feet on the cool sand, listening to the waves.
We didn’t have the beach to ourselves, but it was pretty close. There certainly weren’t any people encroaching on our spot against the cliff, under the shade of an overhanging tree.
Lunch time
The original plan had been to head back into town for lunch, but it was just too relaxing. A quick search found a small cafe 350 meters from where we were sitting, so I walked over and picked up sandwiches to eat on the beach. We were worried about seagulls, but in the end there was only one, though he insisted on being allowed to clean up the few crumbs that had fallen in the sand. Then it was back to reading and watching the surf.
Can you see the friendly seagull?
Doing nothing all day can be pretty exhausting (in a good way) and about 3:30 we packed up and headed back to our hotel. After a cool shower, it was time for a very local brew – a KPA, where the K stands for Kiwi.
Blog time
Tomorrow is another travel day. Next time we’ll likely stay here for at least a week. We are planning to stop at Hot Water Beach along the way to our next hotel – everyone says it is a must-see. We’ll let you know how it is.
When we were in Mount Maunganui in 2023, the thing that we were the least excited about was the restaurants. They were good, but they weren’t great. We had much better luck this time, with excellent meals two nights in a row. Last night as we were finishing up dinner, an Australian family sitting next to us was trying to take a selfie of the full table. We offered to take the picture for them, so of course, they offered to take our picture as well.
We chatted briefly and mentioned that we were Canadian, which sparked a very interesting discussion. More about that in a later post…
While we were eating dinner, we were looking at his sign on the restaurant wall. How could you say no?
Good advice
Our next stop is Waihi in the Coromondal. It’s an easy drive, so after we loaded the car and checked out, we headed for the beach. The tide was out, so you can see just how wide and shallow the beach is. When I took this picture, I was standing on the high tide mark, and the beach continues inland another 50 feet of so beyond that point. By the way, if you look very closely, you can see Jan standing beside the rocks, to give you a sense of scale.
Mount Maunganui beach
In case you are having difficulty spotting Jan in the previous picture, here is an expanded view.
Jan
We just walked barefoot along the beach. And walked, and walked. We walked a good two km before we turned around and headed back to the car. We were taking our time, but the wind, the sun, and the sand all combined to give us lots of exercise for the day.
Here are a few more pictures showing Jan walking in the surf and looking for sea shells.
Then it was on the road. We arrived in Waihi in time for lunch before checking into our hotel. We can’t walk to the beach from here, but it’s a short ten minute drive. We plan to head there tomorrow morning, and then check out some of the scenery and hikes in the afternoon. This is forestry and gold mining country, so it has a different look.
Waihi
I’ll close with a random picture as I was out walking in town this afternoon.
Every day that I’ve ever spent in Mount Maunganui I’ve had pretty much the same routine. I suppose it would eventually get boring, but I think it would take a long time. I start with a walk across the street to pick up our morning lattes at The General, then back to the room for breakfast and lattes while working on our morning puzzles. Add in a bit of “nothing much” and a touch of “relaxing” and it’s pretty easy to get to 11:00 AM before we are ready to start a full day enjoying the sun and the sand. This is very different than your experience if you are on a cruise ship. When Jan was shopping yesterday she was asked if she was in town on a cruise ship – she said no, we were here for three days and had been driving all around New Zealand. We enjoy that way much better. Here is where the cruise ships dock.
Cruise ship in harbour … and a lot of sail boats
The first activity on a typical day in Mount Maunganui (after lattes and relaxing) is to walk up the Mount. Jan fully resolved her “summer wardrobe deficit” yesterday, so she joined me on the walk. The good news is that it is warm and sunny here. The bad news is that if you are walking up a mountain in the sun, it gets downright hot.
Jan, wiping the sweat from her face
Jan decided that sheep are far smarter than we give them credit for. They were all relaxing in the shade.
Smart sheep – is that where they get smart wool???
So when we spotted a bench in the shade…
Jan, enjoying the shade
Then it was onward and upward. I kept saying “I think it flattens out around the next corner” but of course it never did. Finally we came to a fork in the road.
Decision time
Here is a closeup of the options.
Choices
Option 1 was to go back the way we came, down 1030 meters of steep path, mostly in the sun. Option 2 was to continue upward for 830 meters on a steep path. Option 3 was to go 430 meters down a steep path, in the shade, and then walk around the base of the Mount – mostly flat and partly shaded. Jan wisely went for option 3. I foolishly continued to the top.
On the way to the top
The scenery was lovely, but the sky was clear and there wasn’t much shade. But there was a breeze, and that brought out the paragliders.
Paragliders
Unfortunately there weren’t any tandem paragliders, or I would have been tempted to try it again. I pressed on and eventually I made it to the top, and to prove it I took a picture of the monument.
The Summit
Then it was down to meet Jan as she was walking around the base. I almost missed her when she went off the path to explore.
Jan exploring
It was getting late and we were hungry, so we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a little nap.
The view while napping
Then I went for a long walk (2.5 km each way) along the beach, barefoot through the surf. It is quite windy today and the breakers were impressive. I would have loved to take pictures, but yesterday when I went a bit too close to the water, my iPhone got wet. It’s waterproof so I didn’t worry about it, but when I plugged it in to recharge it gave me a warning that water had been detected, and I should let it dry first – a process that might take several hours. It did dry out eventually, but I decided my phone would stay home today, so no pictures of the surf. But you know what it looks like, right?
When the snow is falling outside, and you are freezing your butt off every time you step out of the door, it’s really hard to pack for a trip to New Zealand summer. Every fiber of your body wants to make sure you won’t be cold, and as a result, you pack too many warm clothes, and not enough cool clothes. If my clothes are too warm, I can live with it – I might even like it. Jan, not so much. And that is how Jan decided to check out the end of summer clothing sales, while I went on one of my favourite walks in Mount Maunganui. But once again, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here is a picture of the setting sun last night from our hotel room. I quite enjoy the view.
After our breakfast and lattes, our first stop was the Mount Hot Pools where we booked massages. All this hard work has us both in need of some relaxing. On a more serious note, all the walking has us both feeling a little stiff, so a massage sounded like just the ticket. With that out of the way, I was off on my walk while Jan set out to address her wardrobe misalignment problem.
My goal was to walk to the top of Mount Maunganui, but there are two ways you can do that. The right way, from my perspective, is to walk up along the path, which is longer, but doesn’t have steps, and then walk down using the steps. The wrong way is to do it the other way around, like I did the first time I was here. Along the way you are treated to views of the “not-so-wild-life” and the pleasant scenery.
As always in New Zealand, there are interesting sculptures along the way.
And interesting plants – in this case another one of those noxious invasive species, but it’s pretty, in spite of that.
And when you get to the top, stunning views over the town and the beach that goes on forever.
Mount Maunganui- the town and the beach
Then it is time to head down, and after taking all the steps down (being thankful that you aren’t walking up), there is a lovely walk around the base of the Mount. It’s fairly flat with a cool breeze, the path is mostly shaded, and you can hear the sound of the surf breaking on the rocks all the way. If it gets any better than this, I haven’t found it yet.
After lunch and our massages, I went for another barefoot walk along beach. This never gets old.
And then it was time for Monday Beer Club, another candidate for as good as it gets.
Okay, one other candidate. Here is a picture of Jan at dinner, wearing her new (beautiful) summer dress.
Mount Maunganui – known locally as “The Mount” – was one of our favourite stops on our first trip to New Zealand, two years ago. The beach is amazing, so I was looking forward to walking it again.
Mount Maunganui on my second birthday of the year?
I celebrated my birthday yesterday, but several people have pointed out that it is still my birthday in Canada, so I can technically celebrate my birthday again today. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Last night we walked into Taupo for dinner. It was a pleasant half hour walk and the exercise also let us enjoy dinner guilt free. Here is the view of the setting sun from the restaurant.
My first birthday of this year?
We arranged a late checkout today, so we could enjoy another leisurely start to the day. It’s a short drive from Taupo to The Mount (two hours) so even with our late start, we had time to stop and explore on our drive. We weren’t even out of town when we pulled into a lookout over Lake Taupo.
Lake Taupo
Our next stop was Huka Falls, just north of Taupo. It is well worth a visit, with a foot bridge over the falls.
Jan at Huka Falls
The section of the falls visible from the foot bridge was more like rapids, but there are foot paths along the river, with other lookout points, so you can see the actual falls. They aren’t that high, but still very impressive.
Huka Falls
The paths near the falls were quite crowded, but once you get away from the falls we had the path to ourselves.
We were hoping to see birds, but didn’t have any luck. Fortunately, we did see a number of interesting plants.
Himalayan Honeysuckle
Although we enjoyed seeing this plant, when we investigated, we discovered that it is considered to be a “noxious invasive species” in New Zealand. Here is a closer look at the berries, which may explain why it is so invasive.
Himalayan Honeysuckle berries
One of the most widely known symbols for New Zealand is a fern that is beginning to unfurl. I’ve seen them several times, but whenever I take a picture, it is out of focus. It seems that all the fine hairs on the fern make it difficult for the phone to focus. I guess that’s the disadvantage of taking your pictures with your phone. So I had Jan put her hand behind the fern to help the camera focus. Jan said we should call this picture “Cousin It”.
Fern … or Cousin It?
When I was looking for things to do around Taupo, I spotted Craters of the Moon. It is a geothermal area that features a boardwalk path where you can view steam vents and bubbling mud craters. How could we possibly resist? It was our next stop.
Craters of the Moon
The valley is covered in low scrub brush, interspersed with bare patches and steam vents. The vegetation was interesting – it is a variety of Kanuka, which is usually a tall tree, but because the ground is so hot here, its growth is stunted so that it creates a low ground cover. I’ll show a few more photos that give you a sense of the walk.
Note how the steam is coming from the collapsed walls. This next picture shows how there are multiple steam vents around the valley.
In some places, the steam was more intense, and sometimes the wind would blow it across our path. The temperature effect was a bit like an outdoor sauna. It didn’t exactly “stink” but there was definitely a distinctive odour. Later, as we were driving through Rotorua, we noticed the same smell, but even stronger.
The walk took about an hour, along gravel paths and a boardwalk. Fortunately there was a cool breeze that provided some relief from the “sauna”, but we still felt the heat from the ground and from the steam vents. And if anyone was foolish enough to stray from the marked path…
Beware!
By the time we finished Craters of the Moon, we had pretty much used up our time, so we got on the road to The Mount. After we arrived, we checked in, unloaded the car, unpacked, and then headed to the beach.
The beach at Mount Maunganui
It’s techically the day after my birthday, but several friends have pointed out that it is still my birthday in Canada, so I am embracing that idea. And what better way to celebrate my birthday (even if it is the second one for this year) than to walk barefoot through the surf, in February.
For my birthday, Jan booked a room at The Retreat in Taupo, and made dinner reservations at Roquette. And then this morning, she gave me carte blanche to pick the activity for today. Not complete carte blanche mind you – bungee jumping was out – but almost anything else was fair game. I looked at boat rides and scenic hikes, and then I spotted the Wairakei Thermal Spa, and it was settled.
Fair warning to our friends and family who are still digging out from multiple snowstorms, or enduring bitter cold temperatures. You may want to stop reading now.
We had a leisurely morning looking out over Lake Taupo. Once again, my body battery continued to recharge throughout the morning. About noon, we headed for the spa. We checked in, changed, and then walked to the pools, past a Māori carving.
The centerpiece of the spa is a sequence of three pools, heated by thermal springs, with a range of temperatures to suit every taste. The hottest pool can be very hot!
This was my favourite pool
And if you are foolish enough to go outside the pool area, it can be dangerous.
Don’t go here!
The pool itself is lovely, and as you can see, it wasn’t particularly crowded, which was great.
Wairakei Thermal Spa
Jan’s biggest fear was that the water would be too hot, but she managed to find a spot that worked.
Jan in the coolest pool
Of course, the pool that was far too hot for Jan, was just right for me.
Jim’s happy place
After a bit of experimenting, we managed to find a spot that worked for both of us.
We spent close to two hours relaxing in the hot pools and enjoying the therapeutic waters. Then it was back to The Retreat to relax and get ready for dinner. Tomorrow we head to Mount Maunganui. It’s a short drive so we will be able to take our time and stop to view some of the sights along the Thermal Highway, including Rotorua.
Sometimes, when you are on a long vacation, you get to a point where you start missing home. You’re still having fun, but part of you is also looking forward to getting back to your usual routine. Not on this trip! We’ve been in New Zealand for three weeks, and away from home for almost a month, but when we looked at the calendar and realized that in two weeks we would be on the plane home, Jan’s only reaction was “awwww”. Looking at the weather reports from home helps, but it’s also because New Zealand is so amazing. We’ve found a good routine for this road trip. We each have our tasks, and when it’s time to unload, or to pack up, everything is going pretty seamlessly. Jan is now giving me the evil eye because I’m going to jinx things by saying that, but I honestly don’t believe I have that much power. I guess we’ll see.
We checked out of our hotel in New Plymouth and swung past New World (grocery store). I filled the car with petrol, and Jan bought ready made sandwiches for lunch. There weren’t any towns of significance on our route today, so bringing lunch seemed wise. We were finished and heading out of town by 10:20 AM, which for us is amazing.
One iconic landmark on our route was Three Sisters and the Elephant Rock. It had been raining, so we weren’t sure it was a good idea to stop, but we were right by it, so it seemed silly not to check it out. Unfortunately you need to walk across tidal flats to see it. The tide had just gone out, it had been raining, so everything was wet and we didn’t have the right outfits for the trek. We decided to leave it for our next visit. Here is a view of where we would have had to walk.
The path to Three Sisters and the Elephant Rock
Bringing lunch was definitely a good idea – there really wasn’t anyplace to buy lunch on the drive. So we found a quiet picnic spot just off the highway beside a stream with stunning views of an eroded cliff face.
Lunch stop
Then it was on the road again. The drive was very scenic, but the road was narrow and winding. And it’s summer here, so that means lots of roadworks. But we made good time and arrived at our hotel by check-in time.
The hotel we are staying at in Taupo is called The Retreat, and the name absolutely fits. We’ve had rain off and on today, but sitting here looking over the lake and listening to the rain on the roof was the perfect way to relax after a (reasonably) long drive.
Lake Taupo from The Retreat
We had a cup of tea when we arrived, then moved on to rose wine and another Old Peculier.
Jan at The RetreatJim at The Retreat
I’m looking out over Lake Taupo as I write this, sipping a Riesling we bought at the vineyard in Marlborough. It’s starting to clear so I can see across the lake now. It’s the perfect way to end today, which will be the final day of my 60’s. Tomorrow will be a big day. The forecast is for sunny skies and we’ve booked dinner at a lovely restaurant.
This is basically a driving holiday. We rented a car in Queenstown, headed south, then drove up the east coast of the South Island. Now we are working our way around the North Island, revisiting some favourite spots, and investigating other cities to perhaps add them to our list of favourites. But even though this is mostly a road trip, when we arrive in a new city, we park the car, and if possible, walk everywhere until it is time to leave for our next stop.
One of the interesting things about cities worldwide is that each one has a different balance between cars and pedestrians. In some cities, like Stockholm, if you look at something on the other side of the street, cars might stop to let you cross, even though you were just looking. In other cities, pedestrians take their life in their hands every time they cross the street, no matter what the traffic signs say. New Zealand is somewhere in the middle, though it does seem to lean toward benefiting drivers. In New Plymouth, the balance seems to be tilted even more toward drivers. The nearest coffee shop for our morning latte is half a block away, but it would be a three-block walk if I used legal crosswalks. And even when there is a crosswalk, cars might be given priority. Seriously!
An unusual crosswalk
Just in case you missed it, here is the sign on the crosswalk.
What the????
It just occurred to us that it might possibly mean that if there are pedestrians, the cars should give way. This is yet another instance where punctuation could save lives!
That having been said, once you head away from the roads, New Plymouth has much to offer. Two blocks from our hotel you can access the Coastal Walkway, which is a 13 km long paved path along the sea where you can listen to the waves crashing into the shore and enjoy the cool ocean breeze.
The Coastal Walkway
The scenery is varied along the walkway. This section brought back memories of the abandoned ochre mines in Provence.
The entire path is paved, but there are also sections where you can walk along the black sand beach if you want. Of course, we wanted…
On the beach
I mentioned the driftwood on an earlier post. The storms here seem to bring in a lot of driftwood. Someone has been turning it into shelters, or perhaps sculptures. Here is one example.
Driftwood
There are also many stone sculptures in the city and along the walkway. This one represents a fallen leaf, curling up as it dries.
Here is another sculpture.
This next one is my favourite. It is hidden in the rock, and I nearly missed it.
Sculpture by the sea
Here is a closeup to give you a better view. So cute.
The Wind Wand (see yesterday’s post) is in the middle of the walkway, and it is very near our hotel. So first we walked one direction, stopping for a light lunch at a food stand to enjoy the food and the cool breeze in the shade. Jan was done for the day, but after a brief rest I decided to try the other direction. It was quite different.
It was high tide, so the waves were crashing onto the rocks.
I was also treated to views of Mount Taranaki, the stunning volcanic peak near New Plymouth. We drove past it yesterday, but it was overcast. There were still a few clouds today, but you can definitely see it here.
Mount Taranaki
And of course, there were flowers, and because I’m me, I took pictures. I like this one because it shows the flower in three stages -the open flower, the dried flower, and the white seeds.
Here are two more.
Tomorrow we’re off to Taupo and my birthday celebration.
