What are these people doing, you ask? Notice how differently people are dressed; some for winter and some in swimsuits. This is the famous Hot Water Beach of New Zealand.
Volcanoes have developed underground reservoirs of superheated water which escapes to the surface through fissures under the sand. The idea is to go to the beach at low tide, dig a deep hole, allow it time to fill with underground water (it seeps in), and sit in your sand sauna until high tide comes in to destroy it all.
John gave it a go with one foot. It was hard to find water cool enough to stand in. The water is about 147F. Of course, the ocean is very cold, but at low tide, it doesn't fill the holes.
There are places in the ocean near the beach right around NZ where the water is hot because of this same phenomenon. Locals know where the spots are and swim there year round.
Hot Water Beach is located along New Zealand's Pacific coast just south of Mercury Bay at the northeast tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.
No visit to New Zealand's North Island is complete without experiencing the hot water sand sauna at Hot Water Beach.
Posts
1 comment:
Hai.......
I liked your blog very much.....
I would read your blog regularly, meantime it’s been a long time since I had been to a beach, even though I don’t know to swim I enjoy as you all do.
Merry XMAS.......
ARJUN MS www.stylisharjun.blogspot.com (do visit and comment)
Post a Comment