DAY 3
HOT WATER BEACH/CLEVEDON/AUCKLAND
Hot Water Beach
If I could do this trip over again, this is where I would have spent all day. This beach has natural geothermally heated water seeping up from deep underground. If you visit, make sure to check ahead and plan it around low tide before you get there since that is the best opportunity to enjoy the hot water. Rent a shovel (a.k.a spade in New Zealand) for around $5 when you get there from any of the numerous beach vendors. Then you just start digging a hole on the beach to make your very own spa pool just a few feet away from the seawater. My family found it amusing sitting in the ocean and digging into the sand to have hot water seeping up.
Clevedon
Being summer, the oyster season was pretty much over at this time of the year, however we figured it would still make an interesting stop. Driving along the coast of this part of the country provided a scenic view of the waterfront. On our way to Clevedon Coast Oysters, we found a few places to stop and walk out to the sea during lowtide where we saw lots of shells and just had fun walking out into the water and exploring. We did stop at Clevedon Coast Oysters however being out of season the only thing available were frozen oysters, so we didn’t get any freshly shucked oysters to enjoy on site. We continued our drive to Auckland for the stay on our last night.
Auckland
We arrived late at night and still managed to walk around a bit and get dinner in the city with the kids. Here we spent the least amount of time, however we figured we would still get to still see the city and be close to the airport for a convenient early departure the next morning. We weren’t too far from the Auckland Ferry Terminal, and while it was a bit touristy there were some nice restuaurants to choose from which all provided a great view of the Auckland waterfront. With my husband being a beer guy, he informed me that New Zealand is renowned for some world class varieties of fruit-forward hops which make delicious beer, therefore he convinced me to go out with him in search of some good local beer. He found a place called Vultures Lane, which according to him would be appreciated by any beer lover.
On this trip, we spent quite a bit of time driving however as with all our trips, the car time is helpful for the kids to get a power nap between destinations. There is so much nature to explore in this part of the New Zealand, it’s a great place to visit for outdoor adventurers and a ton of fun for the kids.
Here’s a map with the points of interest along with the routes we took each day: