Boxing day was a little different this year!

First off, we went sea-kayaking with Cathedral Cove Kayaking from Hahei beach. Mama B had been worried about this, thinking she'd have to take an Eskimo-roll test, and as understanding youngsters, we'd taken it upon ourselves to wind her up as much as possible!

The kayaking was fantastic. The waters were absolutely stunning and the beaches breathtaking. Our guides were fun, relaxed and informative. There was a great tunnel from one end of Cathedral Cove, where we were treated to good coffees and had a swim. The trip lasted over three hours, perhaps slightly extended due to our Yorkshire friends who were perpetually trailing us... One of our guides finally tied a rope to them and towed them home!

After a great lunch at the Hahei Luna Cafe, we headed to the world renowned Hot-Water Beach. My first impression here was one of disappointment. The beach was fairly empty except for one small section where there must have been 200 people packed in. We had all imagined that we'd be able to just dig a hole each and sit in it, basking in the thermal water and soaking up a little sunshine. We were wrong, this wasn't how it worked, but we shouldn't have been disappointed! There were two thermally heated springs bubbling out of the sand, and since we were there on a still falling tide, we simply waited for the sea to go out a bit then grabbed a spot just below the spring water. After some frantic digging (with our 200 friends) we had a wall with a super-hot water inlet which we could turn on and off with ease! We must have spent several hours pottering about in the sand with occasional dips in the ferocious surf (which takes a few lives a year).

After all of the excitement of Eskimo-rolling and strenuous digging we were pooped! We meandered back to our hotel for a simple dinner and more "floral-head" with a beer or three.