Is Peninsula pronounced pe-nin-su-la or pe-nin-shul-la? That was the big debate on the drive today. Waze says the first in American accented English and the Garmin says the later in New Zealand accented English. We opted to use the later mostly because it seemed to annoy Audrey. We loaded up the minivan and headed to the Coromandel Penni-shula!

Again, with the geothermal theme, we drove by the Hot Water Beach. There wasn't really much point in stopping since it was high tide. Had it been low tide, we would have been able to dig our own hot water pools in the sand. Apparently this beach is a 'hot bed' for geothermal activity! The beaches and mountains were beautiful, and the winding mountain roads begged for a high performance vehicle to really enjoy them. I was able to get the tires on the minivan to hum just a bit and made at least 2 of my family members a little queasy. Had the minivan had less roll, it could have been even more fun.

Our pivot point for the day was Hahei. Here we hoped to get a nice lunch and then take the short (1hr, each way) up and down hike to Cathedral Bay. We were a little surprised to see people swimming when we arrived. The water was very cold. The Cathedral was quite a neat feature to see. And, although I did not utilize them, there were restrooms up on a little hill that were open to the bay for your viewing pleasure. As the sign said, a 'poo with a view'. The only real 'event' on this hike was the little lost French girl. After a call and response session with her father, they were reunited, no worse for the wear, and no one seemed even the tiniest bit upset.

On the way back down the mountain we had a possum run into the road. Since this is an invasive species, even the conservationists ask you hit them with your car. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so I slowed enough to let it get away. Well, back to Auckland for dinner and a nap.