Hahei & Hot Water Beach, NZ

So we've started driving through NZ and the first more distant location was situated on the Coromandel Peninsula. The places are called Hahei and Hot Water Beach. The first one is famous for its beautiful white sandy beaches, limestone formations, very large marine and island reserve, and one of NZ's greatest snorkling trails. A nice fact about Hahei is that the islands off its coast are so well protected that no one is allowed to anker within 50 meters of them. The islands' ecosystem are untouched and still the same as 100s of year ago. You will plants and animals there that are no longer found in the "mainland" of NZ. Just look at the pictures and be convinced by the natural beauty (and you guys thought, including us, it was mostly going to be sheep, hills, grass, and g'day mate all the time. Well, guess again... simply stunning. Yep!).

We moved a few kilometers further to Hot Water Beach were there a spot on the beach alongside some rock formations were you can dig a hole in the sand and it will be so warm you can build your hot water pool with the help of the incoming tide. NZ still has so much geothermal activity (more on that later) which makes quirky things like this possible. We didn't a hole ourselves because we had to head back to Auckland later that day. More info soon!