Hot Water Beach, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand

Volcanoes near this beach on the eastern edge of New Zealand's North Island develop large underground reservoirs of extremely hot water. Over time, this water escapes to the surface, cooling along the way, though still emerging at temperatures as hot as 147 F (64 C).

Kaiteriteri Beach, Nelson, New Zealand

Havelock Harbour

Left the vineyards on Highway 6, heading for Nelson. Road travelled through rural countryside first, with lots of sheep, cattle and some deer, but all against a backdrop of mountains. Paused at Havelock, to wander round the harbour. Havelock is at the end of one of the many inlets that form the Marlborough Sounds and is a centre both for pleasure boating and mussel fishing (it's the Greenshell Mussel Capital of the World). Missed a trick here as, unbeknown the John, Ernest Rutherford went to school in Havelock and there is a memorial to him in the town, which we didn't see.

South Street, Nelson

From Havelock, the road climbed up the Pelorus river valley, over the Rai Saddle and down through forests to the coast on a very steep and twisty road. Drove along the coast and paused in Nelson to look at the Cathedral  (reputedly, but not obviously, art deco in style) and the quaint workers cottages in South Street, billed as the oldest fully intact street in NZ. John phoned the iSite to ask where there was a memorial to Ernest Rutherford, NZ's only Nobel Prize winner, to be told that we'd missed the one in Havelock but that the main one is in Brightwater, just outside Nelson. Added this to our route.

Ernest Rutherford Memorial

After Nelson, we had lunch with Betty Williamson, an old family friend of Aenea's who lives in Richmond, a town just outside Nelson. We had a delightful visit with Betty and it was super to see her two daughters, Fiona and Heather, who called in to say hello. From Richmond we took a detour to Brightwater, to view the aforementioned memorial to Ernest Rutherford. This was in the form of a spiral, with a sequence of information boards, detailing his life and works.

Kaiteriteri Beach

 From Brightwater we rejoined the highway and made our way to Kaiterteri. Checked in to our B&B and were disappointed to find that the private boat trip I had provisionally arranged with the B&B owner was no longer available, since the owners of the B&B had gone away unexpectedly, leaving another couple to hold the fort for them. We were, however,  able to book a trip with the Sea Shuttle, one of several companies that operate water taxis from Kaiteriteri into the Abel Tasman National Park. Dinner in the Beached Whale, with a background of rugby on the TV. (New Zealanders really like their rugby.)

Karekare, West Auckland, New Zealand

Karekare is a small coastal settlement in northern New Zealand, where the Waitakere Ranges descend into a large black sand surf beach.

Karekare is a popular destination for Aucklanders in summer. Despite this, the area has retained much of its natural beauty and isolation, and does not get the high number of visitors recorded by its northern neighbour, partly because the road is narrow and only recently sealed. There are surf patrols in summer.

Also the site of a notable Waitakere waterfall - Karekare falls. The falls are just a half mile up the valley from the beach, on Company Stream, and it is just a short walk from the road down the track to the foot of the falls themselves.

The rips along this section of coast are very unpredictable and can shift with little warning. They claim many lives despite the efforts of lifeguards. Most of these drownings, however, occur after lifeguards are off duty or after rock fisherman wearing heavy clothing are washed off rocks, out of sight of the lifeguards. Lifeguards advise swimming between the red and yellow flags, during patrol hours.

It is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Auckland city centre, south of the larger beach of Piha. To the south is Whatipu. To the north is Piha. To the East is the Centennial Memorial Park and Water Catchment area, which cover most of the native bush clad Waitakere Ranges.

In 1993, Jane Campion’s Oscar Winning The Piano made Karekare an international star, with everyone talking about the beautiful black-sand beach. Karekare beach is located on Auckland's west coast between Piha in the north and Whatipu in the south.

It is a 50 minute drive from downtown Auckland and a 20 minute drive from the Arataki Visitor Centre. One of Auckland's most spectacular beaches and wilderness areas, and part of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, Karekare offers excellent surf, walking and picnicking.

 

Swimmers are advised to only swim between the flags. Karekare waterfall, known by the Kawerau people as ‘Te Ahoaho' or ‘pendulous white thread', is nestled a short walk from the main beach arrival area.

Karekare has attracted some of New Zealand’s finest painters: Albrecht, Binney, Blomfield, Buchanan and Siddell.

Writers like Curnow and Stead have written about it, filmmakers like Jane Campion (The Piano), Barry Barclay and Niki Caro (Memory and Desire) have set major films there. The landscape is both magical and powerful, a magnet for photographers.