Day 22: Hahei
This morning I visited a very unique beach just down the road called Hot Water Beach. It turns out there is natural mineral water hot springs that runs under the sand on a certain part of the beach, and it can only be found at low tide. At that time, you can bring your spade and dig your own “hot tub” right next to the Pacific’s waters edge. There are two fissures issuing water as hot as 64C (147F) in certain places, you can literally burn yourself if you jump into the hole you dig too quickly. It’s such a funny thing to see the steam rising up from the sand. I stood letting the cold ocean flow over my feet while at the same time letting the hot water flow in the other direction…what a strange feeling with the simultaneous hot and cold.
This afternoon I walked to Narnia! Really I did! The most famous hike of the area, which runs all along the clifftop above the Pacific with panoramic and amazing views, is to Cathedral Cove. At the very beginning of the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the four heroes of the Pevensie family, escaping the darkness of the London Underground, for an idyllic beach near a gigantic arch carved in the rock, are transported into the world of Narnia which, in real life, is (filmed at) Cathedral Cove.
