Cycling in Coromandel: Day 10, 8th January: Whangapoua

This was the day our epic adventure turned into a holiday!  We woke early and decided to return to Wainuiototo Beach again.  Low tide was at 6.00 am and if we left it too late, the rocky section would be much more difficult to negotiate. 

The early morning light was enchanting on the marshes as we bowled across the marshlands.   The walk along the beach was, if anything, even lovelier in the morning light than the previous evenings walk.

 The sea enticed us in again, although the surf was less exciting than yesterday.  Such clear blue water to enjoy.  Here is the photographic evidence that Ross went swimming too!

Whangapoua beach is also an outstanding beach, with wonderfully white sand contrasting with the acquamarine seas, and native grasses.

In a day of visiting beautiful beaches we stopped off at the entrance to Whangapoua Village to explore the Opera Point Reserve where we found another glorious beach with white sand, clear water and families with boats and picnics.  Moira had her second swim of the day as she wanted to explore the end of Opera Point and the only way to get there at high tide was to swim.  She was rewarded with a family of oystercatchers.  No photos, because she swam there!

We got back to our campsite for a crunchy salad lunch and a busy afternoon posting blogs.  We had decided to bike across to Matarangi to find something fishy for dinner and we assumed it would also be a nice gentle ride like the one to Whangapoua Beach.  How wrong we were - 2 steep hills later, we arrived, hot and sweaty to Matarangi Beach.  Our 4th gorgeous beach of the day - especially in the long evening light.

The ride home after dinner showed the hills in the same magical evening light, with the layers of steep hills of the Coromandel Peninsula marching away.  We are looking forward to exploring Castle Rock when we get closer in a few days.  It is such a feature on the sky line.