No scenic highway road-trip is complete without a stop at Sheepworld, when you’re in a country that has 40 million of them. You’ll be shocked to hear that we managed to stop in without buying one of everything, but it was pretty funny.

We ended up in Tairua that day, a neat bay with water tides that change over 25 feet or so. The difference between high and low is remarkable, and you have to know what you’re doing if you’ve got a boat out there. Then we went to a place called Hot Water Beach. Two hours before and after low tide you can dig a hole by the rock wall and find spa temperature water from geothermic activity. We stuck our feet in near where we saw some people and sure enough, it was cooking! We also went about a half hour north to a place called Stingray Bay, and saw the view of Cathedral Cove, a beach created by volcanic activity that is a two hour hike to get to. From there we drove back to Taiura and watched the sunset at Mt. Paku.