Hahei
We had taken another three days off from our housesitting job. We drove a couple of hours east to Hahei. A beautiful and peaceful place with a population of 270 people in the winter and 7000 in the summer. Easy to see why!
Cathedral Cove
We did the beautiful coastal cliff top walk to get there.
We stopped at Gemstone Bay, where Andy snorkelled, and followed the self-guided snorkel trail.
We reached Cathedral Cove. It is named for its gigantic cathedral-like arched cavern, which gives the whole area an air of grandeur.
We stayed at Fernbird Backpackers just one road up from the beach, and had a lovely evening with a glass of wine on the beach.
Hot Water Beach is quite extraordinary, and thus famous. For two hours on either side of low tide there is an area where 60-64C hot water oozes up from the ground. We borrowed a spade from the Fernbird, and started digging our own spa pool. The water had to be mixed with seawater to cool it down so we could sit in it. A fun experience after first taking a dip in the ocean!
We took a small passenger ferry to the quaint little town recommended to us by our good friend Mel Smith, who grew up in Auckland.
We followed Mel's recommendations and had some very tasty fish and chips at Flipper's,
The Pinnacles
On the way home we did the 15km Pinnacles Track, which follows the old pack horse trails over the river and up the valley. The track was used in the good old days to bring supplies up to the millers and tree fellers, who cleared out hundreds of acres of kauri trees in the valleys. The big trees and the history of NZ logging are very similar to that of British Columbia. It is quite challenging. . . stone steps, wide enough for packhorses, dominate most of the track, crossing the river three times as it rises steeply to logging / power camp at the ‘near’ top. The stone stairs are great to look at but hard on the legs! 
Whilst not dangerous, it isn’t for the faint hearted to climb the last kilometre from the hut to the top at 770m (2100ft). We went up some steep rock faces, several ladders
before negotiating a large boulder, to get to the narrow ledge at the top. Andy was proud to have made it, given his fear of heights!
The view was breathtaking.
It was a quiet drive home!
It was interesting to note that all our activities on this trip were on the list '102 Things That Every Kiwi Must Do In Their LifeTime'.
This was our last overnight get-away while housesitting, as we have rented a camper-tent-style vehicle, called a Spaceship, to take us south from January 25th to the first of March.
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