A giant Kiwi Fruit, Cathedral Cove and ouch that sands hot!

After leaving Rotorua we made our way north via Te Puke - the kiwi fruit capital of the world. Over 100 million trays of the fruit are exported throughout the world from this little town. Our home for the next few nights was the tiny coastal village of Tairua located on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. It was from here we explored Cathedral Cove coast and the hot water beach.

The spectacular sea caves, huge coves carved by waves, white-sand beaches and teeming marine life made our cruise along the Coromandel coast pretty interesting but what was even more exciting was that we visited the exact location (funnily enough named Cook's Beach) where Captain Cook was able to sight the Transit of Mercury. The observation enabled Cook to establish the geographic coordinates of New Zealand - literally placing it on the world map. This led to the correct location of latitude, which of course allowed Cook to determine correct North/South co-ordinates anywhere in the world. The concept of longitude (i.e. East and West) was already able to be determined because the Earth turns by one degree of longitude in four minutes. You can read about this from my blog from the 26th August and my visit to the Greenwich observatory and the Meridian Line! - (if you are interested!). After this fascinating boat cruise, we made our way to New Zealand's Hot Water Beach. The beaches name comes from underground hot springs that filter up through the sand. With our trusty but badly rusted shovels we started digging and sure enough it wasn't long that scalding water burnt our feet. (The water temp is 147* F). By digging in different directions you can effectively make your own spa for free.

Our final full day on our New Zealand road trip was spent in Auckland, so we climbed Mt Eden, a dormant volcano whose summit is the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus. Unfortunately, it also overlooks Eden Park where Australia have not won a Test at since Bob Hawke was prime minister, Crocodile Dundee was in cinemas and You're the Voice was on the charts. The last time the Wallabies won there, 6 September 1986, Alan Jones was coach. Enough said!

Tomorrow I leave for Chile, South America!