Beaches......

P-Day

We drove up to the Corimandel Peninsula for our P-day this week.

Elder and Sister Hardy met us (they live in Hamilton) and we jumped into their

car with them and headed out on an adventure!

It was a beautiful Day! We have had such terrible weather, so we

were lucky to have a gorgeous day...not too cold, not too hot.

We drove up the coast, and stopped at all the pretty beaches.

Our first stop was at Waihi Beach

It had the neatest steep wooden stairway down to the beach...

But of course, pictures don't show how cool it was!

Elder Hardy...our tour guide!

Me and Sister Hardy

Some guy had his fishing poles all set up...ready to catch a big one!

Lonne couldn't resist playing on the rope swing...

 The cool stairway down to the beach

There wasn't a soul on the beach but us...

I could have stayed there all day! 

Cooks Bay

 There were so many pretty things....I loved this jagged mountain range.

I love all the shades of green!

We stopped in a little town to have lunch at a little cafe.

I looked across the street and there was a little gift shop named

MANAIA

(My sweet little grand-daughter's name)

Mitch thinks it's a Samoan name.....but it's a New Zealand name!

Our destination was

"Cathedral Cove"

It was worth the drive!!! It was a beautiful hike down to the beach....

LOVED it!

By this time, I was wishing I had my swim suit!

The water is sooooo cold, but it looked so fun to jump off the rocks with all the people!

There was a whole group of jumpers on the rock out in the water to the left....

This tree was so cool! I wanted to climb all over in it, but with my luck, 

I would have fallen out!

I'm getting too old for that stuff, I guess:(

There were beautiful beaches on both sides of the arch....

there were amazing rock formations in and out of the water.

I loved this place...I wanted to stay there forever!

I wanted to get in that beautiful water sooo bad! We should have taken our suits!

But it has been sooooo cold lately, we didn't even dream it would be warm enough

to swim! I know it looks all tropical...but let me just tell you...that water is ICE cold!

Remember... New Zealand is right above the Antarctic! 

Sometimes I forget that fact until I feel the water!

The people here don't mind it at all! They act like it's 90 degrees!

They must have thicker skin than I do!

 A big wave came up and got my shoes...I had to chase them down in the water!

And...since we are ranchers, we always have to admire the grass....

EVERYWHERE!!!

It is amazing!

Next stop....Hot Water Beach

Hot water beach is a pretty cool place.

When the tide first goes out, people bring their shovels and dig in the sand by a certain rock...

Hot water comes up from the under the ground and they sit in it like a hot tub!

We didn't get there at the right time, so I took a picture of the sign! (below)

The end of a PERFECT DAY! :)