Our chariot of fire / hotel on wheels was due her 10,000km service (that’s 10,000km of 280,000km!) so we decided to get her checked into the car doctors for a thorough examination. Advantage Autos in Hamilton provided the service and at $135 wasn’t all that expensive. Whilst the work was underway we headed into town to get some free public zone Wi-Fi, a very rare occurrence in NZ so well done to Hamilton for this service. After a replacement and top-up of vital fluids “Po” the van was ready for action and we headed to Rotorua.

This is quite a drive and took around three hours arriving first at the I-Site for local information and deciding to do some tourist attractions. Firstly we booked two tickets for the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland which is out of town for the next morning and decided to hit the Polynesian Spa that evening. Another spa treat to sooth our muscles, well thats what we keep telling ourselves!

Before the spa evening we explored the local park which has some impressive (as far as a free attraction goes) mud/hot water pools and smelly sulphur air. Afterwards we headed to the Government Gardens and museum which we didn’t actually go in we just explored the gift shop. Dinner was cooked by the van at the side of the lake before heading to the spa pools. The Polynesian Spa has several pools at the lakes edge fed with hot mineral spring water from two different springs. Out of 9 pools 3 are marble-lined with alkaline water reaching 38-39 degrees C and 3 Priest Spa Pools (39-42 degrees C) offering special thermal bathing in acidic water, rich in minerals known for its therapeutic properties. Just lovely!.

After our steamy evening we headed onward to the DOC campsite at Rerewhakaaitu Recreation Reserve. We got there quite late so it was straight to bed as the next day we wanted to be up early for the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3 & Sony DSC-TX5)

Another early start and with laundry on the agenda we used the gym to fill some waiting time. Once we were ready to go we set off back towards Hot Water Beach and went further to Hahei Bay. We parked “Po” in the bay car-park and decided to walk to Cathedral Cove from there. In all fairness it’s not the most exciting of walks and would be better appreciated from further up the road as we mostly walked through domains and up steps around the back of houses. Once we got to Cathedral Cove car-park the walk from there to the cove is more enjoyable and it was HOT! Helen was going to get a morning on the beach! Woop! The walk took around 45 minutes through forest and back pathways before taking steps down to Cathedral Cove. It’s a bit of an anticlimax; there are far too many tourists that head there so perhaps a very early or later on in the day trip would be more worthwhile. The natural bridge that has formed is cordoned off so you’re not supposed to go through it, and there are prettier bays to visit! However we went under the bridge and through to the next bay which was quieter and so we set up and sunbathed for an hour or so.

When we were ready we made our way back to the car via loads more tourists! It is a nice beach but it’s not that big and so the fact that nearly everyone passing through the area does visit it spoils the experience. Lesson learned!

Back to Hahei where we decided to move onto Te Aroha. The journey took around 3 hours and it was a hot afternoon to be in the van. Te Aroha, meaning ‘the love’ was a little sleepy for a saturday, we had expected more from its write up in the Lonely Planet. We stayed at another holiday park this time costing $15 each and with free wifi and free showers, free wifi at last!! We then went back to Te Aroha and explored the hot spring options. There are 2 to choose from, one is more of a private indulgence with one hot bath for 30 minutes costing $18 each and the other is a public bath costing $8 per person. We opted for the cheaper of the two, it wasn’t as hot as we’d experienced in Jasper but it was okay for what we needed.

When we were done with the self-indulgence we walked around the domain which houses old baths, buildings and bowling greens. The light was beautiful at this point. On the main street we found a South-Indian eatery called Clove offering fairly priced curries so we had our first meal out since we’d got to New Zealand.

Due to technical error and digital misunderstanding we don’t have the photos for this post…DOH! We hope that our entry was captivating enough for you to imagine our experience!

Up early once again we packed, ate breakfast and beeped our horn goodbye to the other happy campers and set off for the east-side of the peninsula. We had to back track on the route and went through picturesque Coromandel Town once again with another stop at The Chai Tea house, they remembered us and so we felt even more at home. We enjoyed more chai and one of their super-foods style savoury muffins as well as more free wifi before making our way off again. Our destination today was to reach Hot Water beach and join the masses by enjoying a turn in the beaches natural hot springs.

Another long morning in the van but by lunch time we were at Opito Bay one of the most secluded beaches in the area. At this particular bay there are quite a few Bach houses, much nicer than the norm and apparently only 16% of which have permanent residents so it’s definitely a summer area. The beach is lovely, although the sun kept hiding behind cloud and we enjoyed a very windy lunch with a few greedy seagulls. Helen wanted just half a day on the beach but it wasn’t happening! We walked up to a lookout that took in most of the bay and beyond. We waited for the sun to come back out again to get some more shots looking back over the bay and then journeyed back to the van.

We continued around the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula and ended up at the Seabreeze Holiday Park, they’re located on the H25 heading south from Hot Water Beach. They offer camping at $16 per person with a shower coupon, kitchen and laundry..the usual stuff for a motor park. It was a really good place to stay and had a nice backpackers vibe going on too. We even used the gym the next morning and they’re better priced than the resorts down at Hahei Bay.

We loaned a spade for the evening and drove to Hot Water Beach so we could dig ourselves a hot spring. It was already busy when we got there and we couldn’t find a warm spot in the sand. After a while a group of locals offered for us to share their pool as they were right next to the hot spring. It was boiling coming out of the spring and so we dug spaces for ourselves and let the hot water flow in. It wasn’t exactly a relaxing hot spring experience but it was unique with the tide coming in to cool the pools down. There must have been over 100 people there with more on the way. Once we’d had enough of our hot water beach experience we went back to camp, cooked and enjoyed the luxury of having a sofa to sit on and a film to watch.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)