Opoutere Beach

What is a forest picture doing at the beginning of a beach post, you ask?  It will all come together.  Stay with me.

After witnessing the beautiful beach sunrise on Hahei Beach (last post), we decided to break camp and head further down the coast.  Here's one last glance at our campsite before packing up to leave.

As much as we loved our spot on Hahei Beach, we only had a few days left for our vacation, and wanted to pitch our tent in at least one more place.  We had heard great things about Opoutere Beach, and thought it would be an ideal place to stop next.  It took us about an hour to drive from Hahei to Opotuere.  One thing we had heard about Opotuere is that it is very remote.  We were surprised by just how primitive it was.  There were only a few homes in the area, and no shops or markets.  We headed to the only campground in Opotuere, which had beautiful photos online and had gotten great reviews.  

When we pulled into the campground, it was closed!  Bummer!  It is a summer-season-only destination.  Oh well.  We decided to check out the beach since we were already there.  Something unique about Opotuere is that the path leading to the beach goes through a forest.  It wasn't a long walk at all, less than 15 minutes.

Before you know it, you're at the edge of the forest...

...which emerges onto this stunning, deserted beach.

It was the whitest, softest sand that we've seen in New Zealand.

Seriously, where IS everyone?!

It was a dreamy place.  We didn't stay very long, but hope to return again sometime in the summer.