Saturday 22nd

This holiday just keeps getting better. After a wonderful time with Gwen and Ron, we had a thoroughly enjoyable 13km walk to Hot Water Beach on Lake Tarawera. The info reckoned 6 hours to walk so we allowed that plus an hour to have lunch and soak in the water. We managed the walk in 4 hours with 80% humidity and intermittent drizzle to keep us cool. As we arrived we had a really heavy shower but miraculously the skies then cleared and we've had sunshine. The walk was tough going in places but, as they say, there's no gain without pain!

The beach is a good size but you have to be careful with your feet as the sand is very hot in places. We ate lunch and changed into our swimming togs and couldn't believe how warm the water was when we walked in. We soaked in various areas but you need to be on the move because hot spots suddenly appear and you burn! Even sitting in the water can result in a burned bum. 

Here are the stats:

The best bit about using the iPhone to record our movements shows that we have burned 935 calories. That would be normal walking but when you look at the elevation profile below I reckon it has to be much more. At least that's what I'm telling myself and then I can have a pud tonight. 

First glimpse of the beach

Me wallowing!

Imagine this in Windermere!

Over the last 15 mins there has been a great deal of activity in the stream to our left, which is 100 degrees C. The guys caught 3 enormous trout in the lake this morning and they have gutted them and wrapped them in foil and placed them in pits they've dug in the stream. They reckon they'll be having a fish supper at 7pm. I said I wished we didn't have the water taxi booked for 4:30 as a fish supper would be very appealing. 

Pit 1

Pit 2

And now it's the end of a perfect day and our taxi awaits. 

I think today we have talked to just about everybody on the beach and a short while ago a lady kindly came along the beach to tell us our taxi was almost here. At least it gave us time to get dressed. A lot of people have been very interested in us walking here and have been asking about the trail. As the trail was only opened in December there's not a lot of info online. I've given away my maps and leaflets and also been able to give an accurate walk time.