Rainbow Encampment, Matarangi

After Cathedral Cove, we drove on northward on the peninsula, turning at Whitianga, and camping finally at a beautiful municipal freedom camp on the estuary near Matarangi. All this on St. Patrick's Day. The next morning offered some unusual views of a rainbow.

The bay at Whitianga

One of the better freedom campsites

Local sculpture, table and chair

Castle Rock in the distance

No pot of gold visible, but there are dozen of large waterfowl
in the water

Cathedral Cove, 2018, 2

Continuing our day at Cathedral Cove...

Another of stick man's very bad days

Thus

Note cables apparently attached to the life guard
station

On the other side of the arch; maybe to climb
out of a rising tide?!

I decide to explore another cave

Not very far

Rising tide

Mini waterfall at Cathedral Cove

Inconspicuously-located restrooms; wait a second...shouldn't
they be conspicuously located?!

Tree vs rock; again

Another incredible place

Cathedral Cove, 2018, 1

A few kilometers up the coast from Hot Water Beach is Cathedral Cove, another of those marvelous places where, at low tide, you can commune with the sea stacks and caves and arches. Cathedral Cove is on the Coromandel, one of the North Island's tourist hot spots, and thus far more crowded than, say, the Three Sisters on the Tasman side. But this was a cloudy Saturday and there were actually few sun worshippers out that day.

On the Pacific side of the Coromandel

You park in town and either walk or take a shuttle to the
start of the 4k track that goes out to the Cove; the scenery is
magnificent all the way

Marine and bird reserves out there

Silver ferns and pines

In Cathedral Cove; OK, it's a Gothic arch, but not much more than
that

Pohutukawas cascading down the cliffs

Glorious place!

In Hot Water At Hot Water Beach, 2018

One of the quintessentially Kiwi places is Hot Water Beach, up on the Pacific side of the Coromandel peninsula. We visited in 2014 and got a sense of the thing. Just. This time we did it right, staying at the Top 10 campground (a shower afterward is pleasant), carrying a nice little shovel, timing the tide just right, being lucky, and doing it on a weekday when there were fewer people.

Approaching the little maybe 500 square feet area where, at low
tide, you dig your own personal hot tub; the South Island has
some thermal bits, but the North Island is loaded with them

We found a little hole someone had already begun, close to the surf,
and I had no sooner than begun to enlarge it (scalding water) when
the young couple just in front of us offered their already dug
and perfected pool, water not way too hot, with an unobstructed
view; they went for a swim and departed

Thus, an hour later; we are feeling pretty warm at this point
and the tide is beginning to come back in, breaching the side
of our pool...the cooler sea water feels pretty good

She stepped in front just as I was composing a really great
seascape photo

Vicki's only partially scalded legs

Can't say it's a really cool place, just one of the very best places