I'm Still Smiling

We've now left Simpson's Beach and have made our way the short distance around to Hot Water Beach where we are plugged into the grid again at the Top 10 Holiday Park, we needed to empty tanks, recharge batteries & plug into the internet before we head south into the bush again at Broken Hill. But most of all I had a whole heap of washing to do & dry while it was sunny, I don't mind hand washing smalls but I draw the line at towels & sheets; I take my hat off to my foremothers though, washing must have been a terrible chore (& bore). The sooner we have a 12v washing machine the better! We also wanted to check out the beaches on this side of Mercury Bay.

After getting set up at this very lovely holiday park, it's only 4 years old & is very spacious & well appointed, we took a walk over to Hot Water Beach as it was just about low tide. And as most Kiwis would know at low tide on a tiny section of this beautiful beach, hot water bubbles up through the sand from two springs that are located about 2 kilometres below ground. And if you can dig yourself a hole the seawater & hot water mix and form a natural hot pool for you to soak in. This is only possible though for about 2 hours either side of low tide. You can hire a spade for $5 from various shops & camps in the area if you forget to bring one :) That's a nice little money earner too.

Hot Water Beach

You can see from the picture above that Hot Water Beach looks a lot like the others we've visited in recent days; isolated, nobody about, well just about nobody, the odd person walking but generally deserted so it was a bit of a surprise to see quite a lot of activity happening when we arrived.

In the end I couldn't believe my eyes, it was kind of surreal, there were dozens & dozens of people coming and going and digging holes and trying to fit into them. So many nationalities, young & old & so many different languages being spoken too. All trying to claim their patch of sand, there were some elaborate & deep holes with sand banks holding out the waves. Lots of people with cameras, some with beer & chips, some in their clothes & some with hardly anything on. What a spectacle, it really made me laugh. Someone did a great marketing job in selling Hot Water Beach to the tourists. It's a pity some of the other "Hot Water Beaches" around NZ aren't more accessible. Or maybe it's just as well they aren't.

In the meantime enjoy looking at the photos, they still make me smile now, actually they make me shake my head in disbelief. Click on them if you want more detail ;)

Bottom centre- who's the cool dude in the sombrero

Bottom right- this guys got his beer ready to go & is that a whale bottom left?

That's a dashing pair of yellow togs & love the guy with the tats hair-do!

Left centre- who on earth brought their tripod & then set it up in the middle of the melee!
And who is kicking sand in that baby's eyes

 

 

Someone even brought their chilly-bin