January 29, 2019
We woke up to heavy fog and drizzle. The plan was to drive south along the coast and visit a few beaches, some of which we read needed to be visited at low tide. Since low tide was not until 11:30, we took our time checking out of the cabin. Our final destination for the day was Upper Hutt, just north of Wellington (estimated 4 hours 10 minutes drive time).
We drove to the town of Hawera to fill up on gas, and the fog started to clear. We continued to drive south to Patea Beach and encountered fog once again. There were supposed to be some nice coastal views at the black sand beach there, but it was dreary and foggy so we did not stay long.
Our next stop was Waverley Beach where there were interesting cliffs and some sea caves. There used to be a sea arch there, but it collapsed in 2011. The sea caves were only accessible at low tide, and we were there at the right time. Despite the fog it was interesting, and we explored around the cliffs for a little while. We climbed the bluff to get some nice views of the coast.
We drove further south and the fog finally cleared. We decided to stop at another beach since we were running ahead of schedule. Ototoka Beach had a small waterfall cascading down to the beach. It was a nice wide black sand beach for walking, and there were very few other people there. I found a nice sea shell to collect.
We made another stop at Foxton Beach where there were sand dunes and dune buggies and cars driving along the beach. It was quite crowded and it was very hot, so we did not stay there long.
We drove inland to the city of Upper Hutt and checked into the Wallaceville Motor Lodge. This was one of the more expensive places that we stayed since I had been unable to find much available in Upper Hutt. The grounds of the hotel were quite pretty: many weddings have been held there. The room had a refrigerator and microwave but no stove top.
We drove to the Pak N Save supermarket to buy food for the next few nights. That is when we discovered that the roads in Upper Hutt were poorly designed. We had a nasty time navigating all of the roundabouts to get to and from the supermarket. Frankly I have no desire to stay in Upper Hutt again. There was nothing interesting about it: just a crowded suburb of Wellington.
We relaxed that evening and had hamburgers and salad for dinner.