The coromandel is beautiful. From jade green to deep sapphire blue, the waters in the bays are exquisite and the beaches divine. But there’s a special beach. It’s steaming hot. A couple of hours either side of low tide, the hot water that sits just under the surface of the sand, is accessible. You hire a shovel like we did, or use your hands, arms or thongs (as some did) and dig yourself a nice big comfy hole. Long enough to get horizontal in, with a nice built up edge for a pillow. It’s your own fresh hot water spa. Thanks to the geothermal activity in the area, the waters are laden with lots of extra minerals allowing Mother Nature to do her thing. The healing thing. Laying in a steaming hot pool of water, looking out onto the cold water beach, listening to the waves tumble into shore is quite a surreal experience. We did it at the morning low tide, quite civilised at 10am ish. And we did it next low tide, with the other diehards at 10pm ish. Imagine taking a hot sandy bath in the dark, lit only by the stars and the odd flashlight from fellow diggers, all the while the sound of waves and a cool breeze is upon you. It was a little bit magic really. It was also one of the most beautiful experiences of our NZ roadtrip. Peaceful gentle natural healing. Healing just doesn’t get any better than that. No wonder Lonely Planet reckon it’s one of the worlds top 10 beaches. It’s certainly won its way into my heart.