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 g...

Went for breakfast in the greasy spoon in Coromandel since the nice cafés were closed. Was a so-so brekkie & sod's law the nice cafe's were open when we walked back up towards the Lion's Den! Got our bags and met the naked bus to go to Hahei. The drive was scenic and very windy going up, over & down the hills. The scenery could be British except for more pronounced hills, the turquoise blue sea and the occasional palm tree in the forests... We drove ...