Be careful.. that sand is boiling.

Oh the lies I tell myself make me chuckle. No, I won't go to hot water beach.

Such deciet.

This morning, determined to get a good sunrise while on the east coast, I headed out of River Glen at about 5:30am (I had no clue when the sunrise was since internet was out of range there.. shock) towards the nearest beach which was, as you could guess, Hot Water Beach.

The sun rises at 7:28. I had a long, long time to sit in the camper and toy with the dying laptop where I had internet.

Setting out, and following another family, I picked a spot to start digging. I really didn't get for the longest time why it was so, well, not hot.

Then I looked down the beach at the family, lounging in their pools wondering how it could be so much different. So, giving up on my little sand pool (dug entirely by foot I might add- quite a feat.. so punny), I sauntered down the beach casually towards them. Call me crazy, but the sand seemed to steam where they were. I dismissed this idea immediately and thought it must have been my imagination.

Wrong. Just out in front of them, closest to the tide, the sand was HOT. I mean, I think I sustained blistering from the heat. Actually, I know I did. I talked to the woman closest to me, as she was lounging in her steam bath. Turns out shes a Sydneysider (obvious from the accent) working as a financial analyst. She let me borrow her shovel (spade there) and I quickly dug a teeny little bath for my now completely blistered yet slightly numb legs.

From my sandy seat I was able to snap some pictures and then I ventured down the beach after I tore myself away from my mini-sauna. Apparently the hot water is from a massive underground reservoir once created by a volcano. AND it can get as hot as 147 degrees F. Wow.

 Okay, so I didn't voluntarily leave. The tide kicked me out. Pure evil.

Anxious to see all that the coromandel had to offer, I left Hot Water Beach (sadly) and headed south. I stopped at a somewhat random trail, Twin Kauri Scenic Reserve, which was a quick loop down some slippery slopes and through fern-infested forest. In a small clearing about halfway through the trail was a pair of intertwined Kauri trees.

After the quick break I jumped back into Wazza (it doesn't sound nearly as good as Congo) and drove further south to the Broken Hills mine tracks. These are a tidy collection of treks off a gravel road (which I was unaware of until I hit it) which weave in and out of old mine tunnels from back in the gold mining days. I have to admit with the cloud cover the trails were a bit eerie, and the tunnels not much better. Despite the conditions, I still hiked my way around the place, going to the battery and all.

Whangamata was my next destination, a biggest town I'd see for a while. I stopped Wazza once I was in town along the harbor and went for a nice little run by the bay and down the teeny little bridge. My cool-down, so to speak, was spent walking along the beach nearest the harbor. It was quicksand. Apparently it's a great location to get pipi's which are edible little clams that kiwis seem to enjoy eating. I don't.

After that I went grocery shopping (a big store at last!) and saw the strangest dairy products: flavored milk. Not normal flavors. Chocolate mint, cookies and cream, strawberry, banana, and lime. Lime flavored milk. Oh, and they had refrigerated custard in a carton. It was weird.

Oh, and NZ soymilk is gross. They should stick to dairy.

I stumbled upon an even better beach than the former for lunch with beautiful warm-colored flowers along the dunes on the pathway down.

From the shoreline I could see Mayor Island, or I think that's what it was.

Among the shells I stumbled rather abruptly on an eel skeleton. Weird? Yes.

I also found a teeny little hermit crab!!

There was a toilet there at Whangamata beach. Not just any toilet, but one so unique I actually got a video of it. It is completely automated. When you press the button to lock the door, music starts to play. There's a maximum time limit of 10 minutes before the door automatically unlocks and flushes the toilet. Oh, and it talks to you and gives you these instructions upon entry. It was worthy of sharing.

I hadn't had my fill of beaches so I drove out to the "nearby" Waihi beach, a popular spot for kiwis to vacation. I was accompanied by several seagulls that we're shy in the least bit.

Realizing that I needed to hustle to Cambridge to make it there before dark, I drove southwest towards Hamilton. On the way I stumbled on this lovely little (big) park, Karangahake Gorge, where there were a few footbridges (big ones) and more goldmining relics. It was incredible. I think it's a kiwi-kept secret since the only visitors seemed to be natives of the area and I haven't read about this gem ANYWHERE. I think it might be one of my favorites so far.

Within the park was the Woodstock Battery from the mining days.

I know Blacksburg has affected me. I spent the entire day, almost comfortably, in shorts and flip-flops. I even got weird looks from kiwis and they wear flip-flops year round.

NZ never ceases to have the BEST dusk drives.

Finally, I got back on the road, got lost but eventually ended up in Cambridge. I got to the Country Lodge not a moment too soon as the keeper was leaving with her baby daughter right as I pulled up.

I don't think I'll ever take hot showers for granted again.

Promptly after arriving I made a straight shot to the kitchen to set up camp to (a) write this and (b) perfect my questions for DairyNZ.

The latter has yet to occur.

I met a lovely 60-70s-ish old Kiwi who lives in the area. Malcom is his name and we got to talking and apparently he owns a filly here, Friends of Clover, who is an up-and-coming racehorse. He's actually moving her down here on Wednesday, to join the other horses he cares for. We talked for a few hours, just now, and he told me all about Phar Lap (the 1930's legend from OZ) with videos to enhance his story telling.

He also told me about Kiwi opinions like how Aussies are called "POME"s (prisoners of Mother England) and that the trots are on Thursday nights in Cambrige. Staying here until Thursday night? Yes.

Since he's moving his filly on Wednesday he's going to need help prepping for her by putting down shavings. Guess who has NOTHING to do on Tuesday! ...until now!

He was later joined for night tea with a friend of his and both of them recommended that I see "World's Fastest Indian" and Malcom recommended "Home by Christmas". The first of the pair is about a New Zealander and the last apparently has some incredible footage of NZ. It's also about WWII, something Malcom spent a great deal of time talking about since his dad experienced it in Egypt as a NZ soldier.

This is why I love this style travel. I'm meeting such amazing people!