Hot Water Beach in New Zealand

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.

Harrods Chocolate

Our son Ben and his partner Dana sent us Harrods chocolate for Christmas. They live in London, but are traveling to New Zealand for Christmas celebrations with Dana's grandparents and then to Brisbane for more fun times! Merry Christmas, Ben and Dana!

New Zealand's North Island

Most Australians touring New Zealand go to the South Island and maybe the southern region of the North Island, but we wanted to see Russell and the Bay of Isles area. So we landed in Auckland and took off toward the north end of the North Island.
We sailed from Russell through the Bay of Isles, an extraordinary group of small islands rising out of the ocean into the mist. During the sail we encountered fairy penquins, so cute floating along on their backs in the gentle seas.
Russell was a cute little seaside town. We arrived four days before their very busy summer season began so we had the town all to ourselves. Everyone was happy to us as we were their first tourists of the year!
Our next trip to New Zealand will be a car tour of the South Island, maybe next year...