Kuaotunu Bay Lodge Whitianga

Kiwi experience<br><br><br>Take it away Erika.<br><br><br>Day 1: We were picked up by our driver/guide Ringo, Spelt R.I.N.G.O lol! The first destination was Mount Eden &#8211; a dormant volcano in Auckland, we were able to see panoramic views of Auckland, a nice start to the trip. We then drove to the Coromandel Peninsula &amp; spent the afternoon walking to Cathedral Cove. It was a nice beach ...

... with this opinion.<br><br>After a brief lunch stop in Thames we headed for Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsular. There are a stunning collection of coves, white sandy beaches etc. Our difficulty in coping with the gradients of the brisk walk showed us that it wasn't just the lack of oxygen at 4000m that made us breathless in the Bolivian highlands.<br><br>We stopped for an hour on hot water beach which ...

... was about 45 mins down to a beach where the sea had eroded the rocks away, leaving some brilliant rock formations. All the boys on the bus decided to be macho, and jumped in the freezing sea. Not a good idea! We stayed in a family run hostel where they treated us to a home cooked meal of Spag bol! They even did the washing up. After dinner we all went ...

... us steering straight. The trip took us first around to Cathedral Cove, this time on the other side of rock from yesterday. Had time for a swim and then the leader made us cappuccinos on the beach, in silver (metal) cups and saucers, with chocolate chip cookies! It must have been a funny sight. I had heard that they make you coffee but didn't consider it was on the beach half way into the trip. From there headed out to an island and went through a small cave. There was a decent swell so ...

... two or three bedrooms a bathroom, kitchen facilities and a balcony with an ocean view. We also had boogie boards and kayaks available for our use, and wi-fi internet for a nominal charge! We settled in at the hostel, then headed into town for groceries. Whitianga is a tiny, "blink and you'll miss it" town filled with typical stores and services. (In fact, we missed it on our way in from Hot Water Beach). However, it was obviously growing because ...

... many unique inventions using water, lots of unique playground equipment and a very wild flying fox ride that I am sure would be illegal in Canada. We all enjoyed ourselves. The Davies cabin is fantastic - a real gem. Once again, a big thanks to them for their generosity. It's definitely felt like home with lots of books and games to keep us busy. I think Sophia read their entire collection of readers digests and also ...

... helped us along the way. We stopped on our way to Whitianga at a pub one of Bailey's work mates had recommended but soon realised we had been sent into the lions den - basically it was around 10.30pm when we rocked up and it was fairly obvious that the local lads had been on it for a fair few hours and had not seen a female pass through the door in along while, never mind three at once!! After a rather uncomfortable beer - we headed off to find our ...

Getting ourselves into Hot Water (Beach) Sunday 31st August We went for a lovely morning walk on the beach with Carol before leaving for Hot Water Beach. This beach was amazing and we both loved it here. We arrived at just the right time, bang on low water and just after someone had vacated a nice hole so saving us from a digging exercise. After ...

... up the beach and over the cliffs to Cathedral cove. Liv complains muchly about there being hills involved with this walk but it's worth getting to the cove at the end and we dodge the waves to go and stand inside the huge tunnel carved out of the rock. After walking along the beach for a bit we go back over the cliffs and back to Hahei where we pick up the car and drive back towards Auckland.

... playing with the COSI-like toys, not to mention the flying foxes, the giant tire swing, and the mouse-wheel. For being 24 and 26, we certainly acted like we were 12 :-) I'll let the pictures take you through the rest of the road which included the Waiau Falls, the Kauri Grove, and the siamese kauri's. We ended our trip at Cathedral Cove, a beautiful inlet we had to hike 45 minutes to reach. There was so much to see and do, we are already planning a return trip!