Bus left base just after 8am, in the pissing rain. Not cold but absolute teaming down. Vaughn our driver is a wee newbie and seems a bit nervous. Started the drive to Coromandel. Stopped at a supermarket for provisions and then fired straight through to our hostel which was a little village of lodges. Such a cute wee place, even in the miserable weather. Checked in and got settled then we had the option to hop on the bus up to Cathedral Cove for a walk. Not everyone was willing but it's a pretty famous spot used in Lord of The Rings so a decent team braved the weather. When we got there it had actually died down a bit and held off pretty well for the duration of our walk. The place was stunning, even though the sky was grey the sea was a vibrant blue/green colour. The weather just kind of added to the atmosphere. We also visited Stingray bay there...beacuse we went the wrong way and got lost, but not to worry, it was a wee spot worth a peak. Back to the hostel and not much to do apart from crack open some wine, play some cards and listen to the rain battering down outside. Rhona's backpacker card game, pffft, what a challenge, especially teamed with wine. Getting there with the understanding even though there are two chunky books of the rules. Effort. Made some dinner and then killed more time drinking until it came to 9pm, when it was supposed to be low tide. THEREFORE, you're apparently able to hit a certain spot on the beach, dig a hole down and bathe in toasty water. It's an actual angry storm outside with sheet rain and high winds. Fuelled with alcohol, we decided it was a great idea to go and check it out. Geared up in raincoats and bikinis and armed with spades about 10 of us ran down to the beach about 10mins away in search of a toasty warm bath. The rain had been going all day and to cross into the beach we had to wade through a waist high stream in the pitch black. Luckily Catherine had a head torch, so we had a wee bit of light to guide us. All linked arms we made our way across. Once all safely over we headed to the area our driver had pointed out as the hot water spot. We dug six holes in six different spots until we reached water...none of which was hot. They weren't even warm. Cold water. Meanwhile coats are soaked right through and the speedy wind is blowing sand at us with such force, it feels like millions of needles hitting your skin. After a valient effort, we had to call it quits due to the pain. Super disappointed about that one. Ran home, hot showers all round. The wee cabins served us well as there were big heaters in the shower rooms, bliss after our ordeal.

Kate xxx