Nature's own beach spa

The following day was a visit to nature's own beach spa. Hot Water Beach is so named because it sits above some hot springs that we're left over from some volcanic activity many years ago.

The guide books tell you to simply head for the beach with a spade in hand and dig yourself your own little hot pool. It's not quite that easy, as the water from the springs doesn't cover the whole beach.

But armed with some guidance from some more experienced visitors, we soon had a fab little pool developed that had a great balance of both hot and cold water coming through. Unlike some of the neighbouring pools where only hot water was contained. Do hot it burnt your feet if you stood in it!

A couple of hours of soaking, and getting sand where you shouldn't ever get sand, the sun started to heat up meaning that the spa was even uncomfortable from a temperature perspective.

But what a unique phenomenon! It is a must visit. But get there early. It's an absolute zoo as low tide approaches.

We found the sun again!

So after this week's Wellington weather bomb, we had already planned a trip to New Plymouth to watch our first All Blacks game. Annalie had won tickets so it was a good excuse to break out the Bach for the first time in a few weeks.

We woke to a continuation of the storm that didn't bode well for a journey north in a high sided vehicle. Wind and rain persisted. But we thought stuff it! We'd planned this weekend for ages. And besides, the can needed a run.

Most of the way up was damp, rainy and grey. It want until we reached the boundaries of Taranaki that the sun started to peek through and we started to get a glimpse of blue sky. It afforded us some lovely views of the snow covered Mt Egmont/Taranaki along the way.

By the time we got to our campsite in Fitzroy Beach, the skies were well and truly clear and the wind was merely a whisper. It made a walk along the black sand beach very enjoyable. A much different prospect to what we were expecting to face here.

We're glad we made the trip.