Day 32 to 36 - Australia

Just Before Hitting the Waves!

Surfers Paradise Beach

Lizard in the Marriott Lagoon Area

View From our Balcony at the Marriott

Lagoon View from the Marriott Balcony

Marriott Lobby

Fountain in the Marriott Lobby

I went to Australia last week and It was awesome! I stayed at the Marriott which was amazing. It had a beautiful lagoon and pool area where you could go snorkeling and see all kinds of cool fish. There was even a crab! I also went surfing. It wasn't easy to learn because there was a cyclone off the coast, creating some huge waves, but I still managed to get up three times! On the last night of the trip I took a night tour through the rain forest to see the glow worm caves. We also saw some Magic Mushrooms! They were really tiny, but glowed in the dark. Very cool :)

Day 31 - Hot Pools Beach

View of the Shoreline

Shovels in the Sand After Digging our Hot Pool

Our Cold Pool

This beach was really unique. On a section of the beach, there are hot springs under the sand. So when the tide goes out, you feel around in the sand with your feet for a warm spot and start digging a little pool. Some of the pools were so hot, you couldn't even put your feet in without burning them. It was really amazing. It was so hot out that day that after digging a hot pool, we walked down the beach line and dug a cold pool! The water at this beach was really clear too, but it had a much bigger surf than New Chums Beach. This made for fun swimming, but you had to be careful of the strong current. At one point, a stingray had swam up in the shallow waters! It was a really fun day, and a great end to the Coromandel weekend.

Day 30 - New Chums Beach

Main Floor of the Resort

Me on the Rocks at New Chums Beach

First View of New Chums Beach

Rocks We Had to Walk Through to Get to New Chums Beach

Wangapoua Beach

This weekend we went to the Coromandel, which is a peninsula North-East of Auckland. First we went to New Chums Beach, which is voted on of the world's top 20 beaches. To get there we had to drive 2 hours to Wangapoua, and do a 20 minute hike through Wangapoua Beach and across the rocky shoreline. Then it was a short hike through a woodsy trail. The beach was awesome! It was really isolated and the water was so clear. It was nice because it was a small bay, so you didn't have to worry about the currents as much and the water was fairly warm in comparison to other beaches.

After spending the day at New Chums, we drove south to Whitianga to find a hostel. After finding that every hostel was totally booked, we drove around town to find anywhere that would take us. This worked out better than staying at a hostel because we found a resort that had a five bed cottage available for $55 each. The girls stayed in the basement with our own bathroom, shower and washer and dryer, and the guys stayed on the top floor with their own shower and bathroom as well. We had cable and a huge patio... lets just say it was a nice change from residence!

Day 19 - Goat Island and Muriwai Beach

Two Shells in the Sand - Muriwai

Beachside Landscape - Muriwai

Giant Surf as the Tide Goes Out - Muriwai

Hillside on the Way to Goat Island

Goat Island

My parents were in town and they kept me VERY busy! Our first day trip was to Goat Island and Muriwai Beach. The trip up there was beautiful, filled with rolling hills and lots of sheep! We first got to Goat Island where there was a lot of snorkeling to be done. It was a little chilly in the morning and my parents weren't too keen on jumping in so we snapped a few photos and headed off to Muriwai Beach. This turned out to be an AWESOME idea. It was the most beautiful beach I've seen so far in NZ. The sand was white, and there were hardily any people on it. Not to mention the giant surf. And by the time we got there, the sun was blazing, and we ended up spending the rest of the day in the hot sand.