Jacob'S Well Tourist Lodge & Motel Tairua

... side. The beach (or a section of it) lived up to its name. Some of the sand and water was boiling hot. A metre of so either side of these boiling points, dig a hole, then sit and relax. There were numbers of people and certainly competition for good spots. Was going good for a while till a large wave came along and washed us out! Returned to Whitianga and we found a fish and chip/chinese shop that was still open for dinner. Had been a great day. The germans that I was with ...

... springs were taken by the Germans who just laid there watching us dig! With the sun now high in the sky, it was time to don the helmets of horror ($50 fine if not worn) and begin the 18km hill ride back on a saddle that was sharper then an axe blade! On the way to Mercury Bay we did stop off at Cathedral Cove. A small beach with huge riptides has made a natural cove in the rock and looking through is a stack which ...

... come in the kit to make a decent looking tent. We ended up with a lop sided little hut. We're troopers though, and it was good enough to sleep in (WAY better then the car the previous night). We did however set it up on an incline...our bad! So after our tiring day of walking around and beaching it, we decided to be lame and go to bed around 8 ...

... at low tide, you can dig a hole in the sand and it will fill with hot water which has risen up from geothermal rocks a few kilometers below the surface. The scientists reckon that volcanic activity finished in this area between 15 and 20 million years ago and yet the underground rocks are still at 170 deg C!!!!!!!!!! The tide was still falling, so we continued up the coast to arrive at ...

... are sitting in these man-made pools of hot water. When I say hot, I mean HOT water! Luckily though, the waves come up every now and then and crash over the walls, giving some relief to the heat. At first I wasn't sure about it, but eventually I tested it out and stripped down to my bikini. I was one of only two or three out of our group who actually got all the way in, because the weather wasn't too nice to be in a bathing suit :) I ...

the trip - within this trip i'm already doing - to Tairua with my Mom and with Ian was just exactly what I have hoped it would be. it recharged me in terms of having them here and reminding me that this place has so much beauty and potential for cool ...

Last night of work at the boat. Me and Isabell will be in the kicthen. Ellie is out in the restaurant taken orders and Harry is in the bar. Completely stressed trying to learn where everything is and what is used in what meals. Alsorts of prep to try and make things as smooth as possible this evening. So it starts and the orders keep coming but we get through it. I am ...

After a quick visit to Rotorua we headed North once again in the direction of Hot Water Beach near Tairua in the Coromandel area of New Zealand. After finding our accomodation a short distance from Hot Water beach, in probably one of the most deserted camp sites of this adventure we decided to head off to the beach and start digging!! Hot water beach is famous because when you ...

... myself to dig (sorry!). I thought I might perhaps come back later if the weather improved, so ended up taking photos and heading off. I then took the road to Cathedral Cove. I had been looking forward to visiting here, again hoping the tide would be out so I could see it from both sides of the beach. I drove into the car park to again find it empty. I know it was drizzling but that was hardly an excuse for such a famous place to be deserted. I soon discovered why. The ...

En het was weer tijd om vroeg op te staan: om 7.30 kwam mijn bus naar Tairua.
In Tairua zat ik in een hostel met een prachtige setting: wilde bossen eromheen, aan de haven.... Ik durf haast te zweren dat ik wilde papegaaien heb gezien!

Maar verder was hier eigenlijk niet veel, dus een beetje in de tuin liggen zonnen en toen het 's middags eb werd, heb ik samen met 3 anderen uit het hostel een kayak gepakt en zijn we naar de ...