Seriously! I was driving south aimlessly along the west coast of the North Island and saw that there was small town tucked away in a harbor that might make for a good place to have my lunch. I entered this town (of which I wont repeat its name to retain its anonymity) to find that it was dead. The one café in town was closed on this Monday afternoon and there was not a soul to be seen. There was a precarious sign pointed out of town in the opposite direction marked ‘Ocean Beach’. I love beaches named Ocean Beach because you nearly always know exactly what to expect, except in this case. I drove a good 5km out of town towards Ocean Beach until I arrived in a gravel lot with a trash can. The hike to the beach led over a huge dune and proved to be a bit cumbersome. The beach was gorgeous, not a soul in sight, but as suspected it was just a beach, by the ocean. I spent a few minutes reflecting and headed back to prepare my lunch and decide where to go next. Whilst in the middle of preparation a campervan pulled into the lot driven by an older couple. The man driving popped out and asked me if I had found the hot water. Confused, I said I’d hadn’t and then realized what he was talking about. Apparently some Maori bloke had told him that when the tide was low enough, at this specific beach, a beach surface hot spring was revealed. And the tide was low that day, my friends, let me tell you.

This is a shot of the pool I went back over the dune to dig right before sunset. It was impossible to photograph the temperature of the water but I assure you, it was hot. Like, HOT hot. I sat there, all by myself (the old couple merely put their feet in and left) and watched the sunset. In my own secret beach-side jacuzzi. Unbelievable.

A nice photo pf the dunes before the beach.

Mt. Taranaki from Ruapuke Beach south of Raglan.

This photo of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings) was actually taken a few months ago on a bus trip up to Auckland right before I bough Gerty… thought I’d share.