Day 7: First week down, only 4 to go!

Waking up in a really old country style house in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand is, well, just nice.
Having the host cook you breakfast at the time you wish is, well, even better!
The Drury Homestead is run by Carolyn and Ron, who took the place over not too long ago and completely renovated it to its former glory, and then some. With an addon and new kitchen it just is everything you’d wish for in a large country house out in the country.

As today was going to be filled with activities, we started off early and got out on the road. Highway after highway (1,2, 22, 25, 25a) we travelled on only to arrive at Cathedral Cove, Hahei. This is basically a huge hole in an even bigger rock dividing two beaches into two coves. As the rock wall towers over you when you stand on the beach, the name Cathedral Cove seems fitting.
The walk down from the town is quite strenuous though, it took us slightly over an hour one way through the beach, hills, steep climbs and descends and even a tiny bit of forest.
No wonder we both got sunburnt today!

With the temperatures soaring to a very cosy 25 degrees with nearly cloudless blue skies it seemed a good idea to relax on the beach at Cathedral Cove. And so we sat there for about 40 minutes. Just enough to feel the pain now. 😉
On the way back to our Motel, we found a beach with hot springs on it.
Called Hot Water Beach, it has some restaurants and bars in the vicinity which rent out spades for the tourists to dig holes on the beach with. In these holes, the hot water pools and you can create your very own hot water tub!
With it looking a little bit too much like the Germans were invading the beach, we passed on that and just relaxed on the beach some more.
Oh yes!