Kaiaua, Miranda hot pools & Paeroa

It was a very windy and wet night at the Kaiaua boat ramp and in the morning the high tide was just a few metres from the bus. On a nice day it would be a beautiful spot with the sun shining on a nice calm blue sea but Thursday was the opposite to that! The sky was grey, the wind was strong, it was raining intermittently and it was so freezing cold that I had to put layer upon layer of clothes on. Len however was determined to make the most of what looked like a good fishing spot as we were right by a channel although the normally flat Firth of Thames was dirty brown and choppy. Supremely hardy I thought as he cast his line out and then huddled by the bus or sometimes in the bus as he watched hopefully for those strong nibbles on the end of the line - all in vain unfortunately and he was very cold by the time he packed it in!

Final result - Sea 1 Len 0

We then drove further down the coastal road to Rays Rest, the very popular overnight spot for motorhomers, right on the shores of the area where the many migrating birds stopover. There was only one van parked there, the sea at full tide still being very dirty looking and choppy and the strong cold winds were a deterrent for us doing anything but enjoy a cup of coffee. There was only the odd sparrow and gull to be seen as the time of year is not quite right for the many various birds - I assume they migrated well before the cold set in and we arrived!

Len rests @ Rays Rest!

So the best part of the day was our visit to the Miranda Mineral Hot Pools - so lovely to soak in the 37 degree big pool and heat ourselves up even further in the 42 degree big spa. There were only about 6 others in when we arrived but by the time we left there were probably 15 or so. We're not usually too bothered with going to hot pools but this was just what we needed! Scrumptious to feel so wrinkly and warm afterwards!

Synchronised soaking!

As we are now heading back to Tauranga to see family and my niece, Debra, who is over from Sydney and also for me to do 3 weeks of locum work our next stop was Paeroa where we stayed in the Paeroa Council overnight parking area where you can connect to power for just $5. Great value with toilets, water and a dump station on hand. The parking area was full with 7 of us there - it must be hard to find a free spot in summer.

Paeroa is known for it's Antique Shops and after we arrived we enjoyed having a wander through most of them, one of them in particular having some lovely old things in it at what we thought were very reasonable prices. Perhaps a place to revisit another time.