Black sand beaches...

Black sand along the beach of Raglan




This photo doesn't do the sand justice, but it really is smooth, black sand.

After leaving Hahei we chose to take the scenic drive out and around the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. Although a beautiful coastal drive, we had to climb several mountains to cross it. This meant many tight turns, almost like a corkscrew. We didn't reach speeds over 30 k/hr until the last third of the drive. Needless to say, much of our day was spent driving.

Our destination today was Raglan, known for it's black sand beaches. Yep, the sand was certainly black here and said to be magnetic. I almost expected the sand to be more of a gravel texture, but it was as fine as any other sand and had a metalic sheen. So very interesting!