van wyk journeys 
Also +22 Sunny light winds.
Leaving Coromandel on our way to Waihi, we stopped at an outlook for an outstanding view back towards Coromandel. We also stopped at Hot Water Beach and attempted to find Cathedral Cove then ended the day at the Martha Gold Mine in Waihi.
Once again we started our drive on some very windy roads that led up into the hills then back down to Hot Water Beach. During the drive, we stopped at a lookout of the surrounding valleys finding the view back to Coromandel outstanding.
Hot Water beach was another amazing beach, the water was cold and the riptide was at work keeping people out of the water. We wandered the beach looking for people who were digging holes in the sand which filled with water and because of geothermal activity close to the surface, it would warm the seawater to jacuzzi tub temperature. Unfortunately, not much of that activity was going on. We did come across a couple of holes with people down inside and when I mean down they were like 8 feet down. For $2, we could have rented a spade but digging a hole that size would have taken hours and brought on a sweat so whats the point of sitting in hot water after all that work? I might prefer a dip in the cold Pacific Ocean instead.
Throughout the island, we have seen roadside signs for produce and eggs for sale. Some left their produce by the road and have an honor box for you to leave payment in. Also, many farmer’s markets offering local produce and goods. We decided to stop at one of the farmer’s markets that were set up at an old school so we could purchase some eggs. Unfortunately, we were too late as all the eggs had been sold. We are not sure how much the eggs are from the farmers directly but they are $10/dozen in the supermarket. In the supermarket, they are not refrigerated but sold off of the shelves.
If we had been inclined, we could have had a psychic reading. Nice to see makes you reminisce about how simple things used to be.
We arrived in Waihi and found that the local feature is a gold mine called the Martha Mine. The surface mine is closed and has had “slip” issues which you can see in the photos. Gold mining in New Zealand has had a long and contentious history,