Easter Sunday

We woke up to a really lovely day but after a bad night's sleep! That will teach us to drink too much, just can't take it now.

We went for breakfast to Cafe Nina which is recommended in the Lonely Planet. I had toast and marmalade with a pot of tea and Jon got stuck into eggs Benedict with smoked salmon which is very popular over here but not something that would be on your typical British cafe breakfast menu! I just managed my toast but could not have eaten that!

We set off to Hahei which is about a 35 minute drive and is the most beautiful beach with white sand and a hint of pink due to the many crushed shells. We had a coffee before setting off up the hill to the car park for Cathedral Cove. The car park was full and people were parking all along the road up the hill, about a 20 minute walk to the start of a 45 minute drive and there was no way we were in the mood to do that so we went to Hot Water Beach instead. You have to visit at low tide to be able to dig the pool for the hot water to come up from the springs and we had timed it just right. There were quite a few people on the beach already digging with some pretty impressive spades, really serious business. We found a nice rock to lean on and settled down for a sunbathe as it was really hot.

The diggers were really busy by now and I went over to see how they were getting on. Some of the pools were so hot you could not stand in them. I manged to "borrow" a pool to have my photo taken in, it was all very exciting.

We had lunch at a little bar on the beach and then thought we would try our luck again at Cathedral Cove. It was still very busy so I got out to take some photos and while Jon was waiting for me a car left and Jon was able to park.

We set off along the top of the cliffs and then up and down into the bush and around smaller coves until we finally arrived at Cathedral Cove and it was certainly worth it. What a beautiful spot and you can only get to it by foot or by sea. After taking lots of photos and enjoying the view We then had to climb the 147 steps back to the top and walk back to the car. We were really worn out by the time we got back to the car park but it was worth it and it would have been such a shame to have missed it.

We then drove back to our motel for a well earned cup of tea.

In the evening it took all our strength to get ready and walk into town for dinner but we did and found a very nice little restaurant and had a good dinner with only ONE glass of wine!

We slept much better.