A morning run along the beach seemed a good idea as beaches are flat but as the beach ended Graham decided we should venture over the cliffs. Why is it all our runs and walks go uphill?
We left the campsite to go inland to explore the Karangahanke Gorge. The area is a big gold mining location and a stop at the information centre in Waihi was opposite an enormous open cast gold mine, we didn't expect to see this enormous hole in the middle of a town. It made a change from from recent geothermal events in the middle of towns.
The walks along the gorge were trails through old mining tunnels which had now been abandoned, a torch was required! As New Zealand hasn't got much history old bits of mining debris is their history. The gorge was in fact very pretty with some good waterfalls and the free wifi at Waihi had enabled Graham to do some geocaches, so he was happy!
A visit to the seaside town of Whangamatata was suppose to be a surfing Mecca but today there was little surf and very few people on the beach even considering it was a Sunday afternoon. We had a quick swim but the sea temperature is still shockingly cold (perhaps we have been in too many thermal hot baths).
We are staying at a campsite a few miles inland, it is very quiet and in the middle of nowhere but it has a restaurant and microbrewery on site (DG would be proud of us). We were allowed to sample all the the local brews before deciding which one to buy, so it was a bit like a brewery tour. There were only 3 other people there so I can't see that it can sustain itself. It is called Hot Water Brewery after the local Hot Water Beach where you dig a hole in the sand and sit in hot water! I do't know if the name does much for the marketing as you wouldn't associate words like hot and water with beer, but it tasted fine, neither hot or watery!