Day 10 Hahei

Our day today may make some people at home a little bit jealous!  We explored Hahei village a little bit more - this picture shows the extent of it with its fantastic beach.  Our village looks out to the Bay of Plenty, which was named by Captain Cook.  Anyone know why he called it that?

We then took about an hour's walk to a further popular beach on what is called Cathedral Cove.  The next pictures show why it is called that!  By now the sun had come out and the temperature was very agreeable and so we were able to relax and enjoy about 2 hours of good sunbathing in a beautiful place.  We did paddle in the  sea but although the water was warm we did not swim because there was quite a swell rolling onto the beach. 

 Some youngsters were surfing in the big rollers.  The rock formation with the large cave joining two beaches was very impressive.  We then walked back to Hahei to prepare for our next part of the day.

There is another beach near Hahei called Hot Water Beach and near low tide you can dig a pool in the sand and geothermal water will fill the pit with warm/hot water.  There were loads of people there and we soon joined with some others to dig a pool.  It was amazing how hot some of the water and sand became.  There were clouds of steam rising from the area.  An experience we have never had before but tomorrow we leave this area and head for Rotorua and will see what happens there.