New Zealand
North Island
- Coromandel Peninsula and Geothermal Sites
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| Cathedral Cove Beach |
Coromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula is a peninsula on the eastern coast of the North Island east of Auckland. It is the home of beautiful beaches and amazing scenery. Two of the most famous beaches, Cathedral Cove Beach and Hot Water Beach, are on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The far north of the Coromandel Peninsula is much less populated and remote, while the western side beaches are much more rocky than the eastern beaches, all are stunningly beautiful in their own right.
Cathedral Cove Beach
Cathedral Cove Beach is famous for its stone arch with a stone pinnacle that can be seen through that arch. This is one of the most photographed sites in New Zealand. Be sure to time out your stay around low tide so you can walk through the stone arch cove to get to the other side of the beach. The other side of the beach cannot be reached by simply walking through the cove at high tide.
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| Beautiful views from the trail to Cathedral Cove |
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| View from Trail to Cathedral Cove Beach |
To get to Cathedral Cove Beach you either need to park in the free parking lot at Hahei Beach and walk about 30 minutes on the street up a very steep hill, then another 45 minute walk along the trail to Cathedral Cove Beach or get on a shuttle that will at least trim off the first 30 minute walk. For $7, the shuttle buses will pick you up at the Hahei Beach parking lot and drop you off and pick you up (on the return) at the top of the hill at the beginning of the trail to the beach. We took the shuttle and it was soooo worth it as the trail is no joke in its own right! The 45 minute walking trail to the beach involves steep inclines up and down and quite a few stairs.
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| Rocks and Pinnacles on Cathedral Cove Beach and Bay |
There are also water taxis that will pick you up on Hahei beach and drop you off on the Cathedral Cove Beach (so you don't have to walk at all, but it will cost you $40 per person each way). The water taxis are boats with wheels and will pull right up onto the beach and drop you off, then pick you up when you are done on the beach and return you to Hahei beach. But at $7/pp for the shuttle versus $80/pp for the water taxi, I thing the shuttle is a steal.
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| Other side of Cathedral Cove Beach, opposite the arch |
There were several other pinnacles out in the water, that made this bay so unique. There were many boats that anchored and hung out in the bay as well, enjoying the stunning view.
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| Other Pinnacles seen in the bay ( this is obviously my picture and not John's :)) |
We definitely recommend a visit to Cathedral Cove Beach to appreciate its true beauty. It was one of the prettiest beaches we have seen in our travels.
Hot Water Beach
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| Hot water beach, can you see the steam rising in the center shallow pool |
Just down the road a few kilometers from Cathedral Cove Beach is Hot Water Beach. For 2 hours on either side of low tide, you can dig shallow holes in the sand in specific locations and have your own temporary beach hot tub! On this beach, there are two springs that are heated by volcanic heated rock deep in the ground. But the two springs continually leak warm water to the surface and at low tide these hot springs can be found by walking along the beach and detecting the hot water seeping up.
The large pool dug above was a little too close the the center of the hot spring and was too hot to sit in. According to the signs as the beginning of the beach, the water from the northern spring can reach temperatures of 64 degrees celsius (147 degree Fahrenheit). The water from the southern spring can reach as high as 60 C (140 F). So you don't want to find the center of the springs, but rather the close edges.
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| John is stepping in an abandoned hole to check out the temperature. |
We decided we really didn't want to be covered in sand for our two hour drive back to our Airbnb, so we didn't dig our own hole to sit in, but it was fun to see.
People bring their own spades or you can rent them at a nearby cafe for $10 to dig your own hot tub for an hour or two. It is quite a sight to look up the beach and see crowds of people digging holes and sitting in them.
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| Very cool patterns in the sand on Hot Water Beach |
Down the beach a bit we found very cool patterns in the sand from the water percolating up and the waves.
This was a fun walk we did in Rotorua where you can walk among 120 year old redwood trees that have grown to over 200 feet tall (75 meters). Designers of the walkway carefully designed and constructed this walkway up in the trees so they did not damage the trees. The walkway is composed of many suspension bridges and platforms surrounding California Redwood trees. These trees are not native to this location, but were brought over by settlers.
The tree walk can be experienced in the daylight or in the dark during their Nightlights tree walk. You will pay a bit more for the evening times, but we elected to do the Treewalk in the daytime.
They had really cool designs for some of the platforms and they hung lanterns throughout the walk.
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| Looking straight up the trunk of an enormous Redwood tree |
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| Floor of the Redwood Forest covered by ferns |
Geothermal Areas
The central portion of the North Island of New Zealand is a known geothermal area. This geothermal areas are centered around the cities of Rotorua and Taupo. The sites are reminiscent of those seen Yellowstone National Park in the United States, however, they are spread over a larger area in New Zealand than at Yellowstone NP.
The first place we explored was Wai-O-Tapu. It was a nice walk around their geothermal sites which ranged from hot springs, to mini terraces and mud pots.
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| Hot spring with pool |
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| Algae growing in unique patterns |
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| Algae growing in unique patterns |
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| Sulphur pool with a fluorescent yellow/green color |
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| Beautiful colors of the algae growing at the edges of the hot springs |
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| Unique crystals forming in one of the hot pools |
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| Overview of Orakei Korako geothermal park |
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| Very cool overview of the Orakei Korako |
Of course our trip to the geothermal area would not be complete without a chance to relax in the pools at Wairakei Terraces. They have pools of varying temperatures to suit everyone's taste.
Waimangu Volcanic Valley was our last stop in the geothermal area and it was probably my favorite. This place has a very interesting history. Prior to 1886, this area consisted of rolling hills with the views of the Tarawera mountain in the distance. The evening of June 10, 1886, Tarawera Volcano erupted and created this geothermal valley.
Between 1900 and 1904, there was a large geyser that erupted which was the world's largest geyser at that time. The geyser attracted many tourists and a hotel and viewing platform was constructed. However, there was another eruption involving the flat area called Frying Pan Flat in 1917 which destroyed the lodging called the Waimangu House and the geyser. After the eruption in 1917 there were several craters formed and there is a stream of hot water that leads down the hillside and into Lake Rotomahana.
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| Echo Crater |
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| Echo Crater outflow |
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| Inferno Crater |
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| Inferno Crater |
Inferno Crater is unique with cyclical water levels in this crater which range from overflowing the crater to as low as 12 meters below overflow line. The color of the water can range from a dull grey when the water levels are low to a brilliant sky blue at higher levels. The brilliant sky blue color is both due to turbulence of the water and the fine silica particles suspended within the water.
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| Bird's nest spring and geyser |
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| Patiti Island is an island in Lake Rotomahana with Mt Tarawera in the background |
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| Inside Starhill Crater looking out at Lake Rotomahana |
You begin your hike at the top and hike down into the valley as you trace your way along the stream. At the bottom of the Waimangu Volcanic Valley there is a boat that will take you out onto Lake Rotomahana.
There used to be beautiful pink terraces that brought people from all over to gaze at the salmon colored terraces, however, the terraces are now under water due to the last eruption in 1917. There are still cool things to see here though, just adjacent to Pink Terrace Bay are fumaroles (steam vents) that look like little mini geysers.
The geothermal area of New Zealand is a must see during your next visit the North Island.
I will try to do a small section at the end of each blog regarding cost of our activities. Many things that we do are free, however that we will try to give an accounting of additional expenses incurred during our travel over and above the expense of lodging, food, rental car and flights. I will give all expenses in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) as exchange rates will fluctuate and some who may read this may not be from the US.
Additional Expenses:
Otorohanga Kiwi House - $26/pp
Cathedral Cove Beach Shuttle - $7/pp (can walk whole way without paying for shuttle)
Redwood Treewalk - $40/pp
Wai-O-Tapu - $45/pp
Orakei Kotako - $49/pp
Waimangu Volcanic Valley (Hike + Boat ride) - $145/pp
Coming soon...
Birds, birds and more birds
Tongariro National Park and Waipunga Falls.
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