It's day 3 on the road and we're currently near Waitomo Caves waiting to plunge into the Black Abyss. While we wait we have some free wifi so figured it was a great time to update you on our first few days! We picked up our new home on Friday and had an interesting first day on the road to say the least! Once we figured out where we were going, no small thanks to a GPS, we were off towards Hot Water Beach! On paper it seems like a relatively straight forward drive. What the map failed to detail was the intense rain, switch back roads, cliff side shoulders all compounded by the fact we're driving on the opposite side of the road in a manual diesel fueled house. After 2 1/2 tense hours we finally made it to Hot Water Beach! Chris was a freaking trooper and got us there safe and sound but was definitely stressed and sore from the drive. Thankfully we were minutes away from digging a our own personal mud jacuzzi! Hot Water Beach is one of the coolest natural places we've been. During the 2 hours of low tide twice a day the water pulls back to reveal a section of beach naturally heated by underground hot springs. Bring your own shovel (or spade as they call it here) to dig our your own hot tub. By the time we got to the beach there were already several pools abandoned so we simply took one over, dug in a bit deeper and sat down for a good relax. The water gets surprisingly hot, in some places too hot for comfort! It was muddy and warm, highly recommend it! After some time the tide began to engulf some of the nearby mud tubs so we decided it was time to head back, shower and settle in for the night. The motorhome is surprisingly comfortable, cooking is a bit of a squeeze but otherwise really great! Day two we headed 15 minutes down the road from Hot Water Beach to Cathedral Cove. We got some great advice from a repair man who jump started our RV that morning (battery cables were loose). He suggested heading straight past the main starting point for the Cove hike and go straight to Hahei Beach where the proper start of the Cathedral Cove hike starts and takes you up the cliff side which is otherwise missed. This was great advice as this portion was more rugged and had beautiful vistas of the beach below (and less tourists). tThe hike took us about 45 minutes one way with many stops for photos and viewing platforms along the way. The hike takes you up and down a few mountains so which we told ourselves was worth at least 1 bottle of wine with dinner. When you finally reach Cathedral Cove it's well worth the hike. You're rewarded with a beautiful white sand beach, cliff face waterfalls streaming down towards you and a stunning rock formation. If we had thought ahead we would have brought a picnic with us and stayed even longer than we did. After the hike back and some lunch in the RV we headed back down the switch backs, in the rain towards Waitomo Caves. The drive took us about 3 hours and was much smoother than the first day with Chris getting more comfortable behind the wheel. Last night we found a freedom camp park which is essentially a parking lot on a farm where we could park for free but offered no facilities only 5 minute drive from the caves.
Our Black Water Abyss through the famous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves is about to begin so this is where we leave you! Will report our next adventures next time we have wifi likely in a few days from now.
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