Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006
Today was amazing. The hot water springs were so cool. We dug a hole (using shovels borrowed from the bed and breakfast) and if you stood over the spring you would have burned your feet. The temp had to be at least 120 degrees over the actual spring. A funny scene from above to see onlookers wearing fleece jackets and hats watching a bunch of people sweating from sitting in the hot springs. I don’t know where else in the world you can do that.
We then went to Cathedral Cove and Stingray Bay. It was about an hour walk to a beautiful secluded beach through pastures, groves, and private farms. We watched some stingrays move around and just relaxed. It was too cold to go in…no springs in the cove but a pristine place. We head back to Auckland tomorrow for our last night of our honeymoon.-Susan
We started our day by going to a Sheep Shearing show. We learned about all of the types of sheep, where they are from, what they are used for, and watched a sheep being sheared. After sitting through the show I am not sure we will eat lamb or wear wool again. Then we drove from Rotorua NZ to Ferry Landing on the Coromandal Peninsula. The Views on the drive were amazing. The drive was through rolling hills of green, lots of sheep, cows and horses. Eventually the highway hugged the coastline giving way to the most beautiful view of the pacific ocean we have ever seen. We checked out hot water beach which allows you to dig a hole on top of the hot spring that is located under the beach in the area exposed only during low tide….we were a little late so we will be back there tomorrow. We are staying at a B&B (ferrylandinglodge.co.nz) which is beautiful. We took the ferry across to Whitianga NZ for a walk through town and had a wonderful dinner at the Fireplace. Off to bed….the tired travelers have a long day tomorrow since low tide is at 10AM we have to be ready at the beach to dig our hole.
Next we traveled toward the city of Taupo and stopped at Huka falls. This was a 35 meter waterfall, which is small but had the ability to supply 50% of the power needed for the north island. The clear water reflected a light blue color and the falls created a milk like bath below. We then headed into the city of Taupo. We spent some time in an art gallery “Zea You” where all of the work was created by people living in New Zealand. We fell in love with a few glass pieces by Venus (from Christchurch) and de Flute (from Rotorua). After lunch we traveled north toward Rotorua stopping at Craters of the Moon. Another geothermal park that shows how the land is still active and continually changing. Then we headed back to Rotorua to the botanical gardens and another Maori village. Many of the Maori people live in modern houses, but still follow many of the traditions created by their ancestors.
Susan and I arrived safely in Sydney, on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at 9:00am (Sydney Time - 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time). We departed JFK Airport in NY at 8:00pm Eastern on Sunday, October 1, 2006. It was a lot of traveling but totally worth it. So far we are in good health, although extremely tired. In Sydney we stayed at the Marriott Sydney Harbour in a 1 bedroom suite. Those rewards points paid off afterall! :) We took a bus tour around Sydney, to Bondi Beach, and strolled around the city.
