5th March

As part of our non-existent keep fit regime we got up early and took the path to the Wentworth waterfall.It was nearly all up hill and took about 45 minutes to climb - I can't say that the view was worth it but the walk definitely got our hearts going!

Hot Springs beach

From Wentworth Valley we drove to the Hot Springs Beach which you are supposed to visit at low tide - we arrived at the peak of high tide much to our dismay. Instead of digging a hole in the ground and wallowing in a hot water bath we went for a walk in the very hot sunshine along the beach. We took in the adventures of those who dared to surf and swim despite all the warnings of serious rips and dangerous rocks and had a picnic lunch in the shade.

We briefly headed up the Coromandel peninsular but the roads were very windy weavy and we needed to make up some time for an appointment we had booked in Whangerai, so we doubled back deciding to return to New Zealand at a later date to explore the Coromandel at a leaisurely pace and drove across the Broken Hills down to Thames, around the bay to Miranda and alongside a Wetlands reserve.

There were mangroves everywhere and mudflats, which as usual meant a plague of flies and insects - definitely not the place to be. Except that as  we drove along the coastal road we found a site where there were at least 30 camper vans wild camping right next to the water. It looked like they were on private land so we pressed on driving until 4pm. 

We found a camp site that was part of the DOC scheme but managed National parks at Omana Beach. It was a good place to stop as we were outside of Auckland and didn't want to drive throught the city during rush hour or find ourselves driving in the dark through suburbs looking for somewhere to stay.

We chose a spot right next to the cliffs overlooking the sea from a height of about 50 metres and ran up the hill to a lookout post to watch the sunset behind Auckland.

Looking West at Sunset over Auckland