New Years in Coromandel

After a short car ride - our first rental experience on the left side of the road, we made it to Tairua. This cute town is located on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. We pulled up to the Tairua Backpackers Lodge in our stealth Nissan Sunny, and were assigned a room with a view.

Not only did this place have a great view. It was fully equipped with an adult tree house, three chickens, and picnic tables designed with jandals, (This is not a spelling mistake. This is what flip flops are called in NZ).  Most mornings started with clouds and a drizzle of rain, but between noon and dinner time we were under the sun.

January 1st 2012 was a day to remember. Hopefully this day at the beach was a hint of wonderful things to come for the year.

Jeff and Derek scouted out a perfect spot for our beach hut and we were set.
AKA: Jeff's NO-BURN ZONE

 

Hot Water Beach was an interesting stop along our travels. For two hours on either side of low tide, you can access an area of sand at the middle of the beach where hot water oozes up from beneath the surface. This happens because lava flows approximately 2km below this point.

People typically bring spades to dig their own personal hot spa pools, but we simply dug in our feet for the experience. At one point Jeff stood only two feet away from me and couldn't keep his feet in it was so hot. I on the other hand had a more comfortable temperature.

Some of the sights on our drive home. So many wonderful shades of green.

We took the long way back which covered the remainder of the Coromandel Peninsula.