NZ Holiday - Hot Water Beach - a Spa Day?

In a hot spot - 7th October
Tairua  Harbour
Dig your own Spa  Bath?
Steams OK to me
I gave TW the good news, we are going on Spa Day today! She was obviously excited but perhaps a little suspicious when she saw me putting a shovel in the car. We were off to Hot Water Beach! It is a lovely sandy beach where, in a particular area, hot carbon dioxide bubbles up from hell down below. To get there from Thames it means taking a very twisty road over mountains to the western side of the Coromandel. Tairua was the first town we came upon. What a really lovely spot. It has a large harbour and a superb sandy beach. We had a light lunch in the Old Mill Cafe on the waters edge and read the Sunday papers. Lots of Union flags about the place? To drum up some early season trade Tairua has a 'Brits on the Beach' festival attended by car fanatics and their old British Motors. Saw lots of Minis, Morris Minors and Triumph Stags etc. Seems to be very popular, our Cafe was selling hangover cures! We pushed on up the coast to Hot Water Beach. The waitress at the Old Mill had let the cat out of the bag so TW knew what to expect.
Armed with a shovel we strode onto the beach. Once the tide is on its way out you feel around with your feet until you feel a warm spot. Then you start to dig a small pool which you sit in until it gets too hot. I think that qualifies as a spa day. It was good fun and the other daft and friendly participants thought so too. It was good to do it on a cold day. Cannot imagine what it would be like on a hot day in summer, getting boiled from below and burned from above simultaneously!
Glowing suitably we then headed further North towards the Cathedral Cove area which is worth at least a day of anyone's time. We headed home, back to Thames. Everywhere we go we are wishing we had longer, much longer!
Spring flowers in the Coromandel


Location: Hot Water Beach 3591, New Zealand

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