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First thing in the morning was heading to Hot Water Beach, which is a beach with hot water (surprisingly) which bubbles up through the sand from geothermal springs. Borrowed a shovel from the hostel, and hitched a lift with a young German couple and their little daughter Paula in their camper van.
It was really crowded on the beach, as the hot springs are concentrated in a small area. We were warned off digging a hole to expand a pool as the temperature would get too high (70•C), and instead invited to join a group of middle-aged kiwi ladies who were enjoying champagne and strawberries in a pool that had been dug earlier by their well-trained husbands. They even gave us a glass of bubbly due to our newlywed status!
Got a lift back to the hostel with the same couple and went to the small local shop to get some supplies for lunch - quesadillas with ham and cheese.
Chilled out at the hostel, doing laundry and reading before our 2pm appointment with the Cathedral Cove Kayak Company. We were out for about 3 hours and saw more of the beauty of the area. The water was amazingly clear - we even saw a few stingrays in the aptly named Stingray Bay. Marky-Mark, our guide, was quite informative about the history of the area; apparently Maori Chief, Hei decided to relocate his tribe here after proclaiming that an island just offshore looked just like his nose. "Ha" means breath of, hence the name of the place, Hahei.
For our $95 each, they kindly threw in a coffee at Cathedral Cove beach, made with camping stove and thermal flasks of coffee. The Kiwis are so obsessed with coffee! Cerys took a dip in the sea, which was 'refreshing'! After a brief stop there, we kayaked back towards Hahei beach - beautifully white & sandy.
We had the loveliest shower in the hostel, really powerful & hot. The best of the trip so far! It was another night in as we bought ingredients for bolognaise - was quite nice to feel 'at home' for a couple of days. We ate and watched another movie, 500 Days of Summer, with the hostel crew; and before we knew it, it was bed time again!
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