Waihi & Waihi Beach are two magnificent sides of the same coin! Waihi town was built on the wealth that lay beneath the surface. As they say in the films…there’s gold in them there hills! Except here, it is a huge open cast mining operation. There are remnants of this history all over town. It is a lovely town. After our history lesson, we head to the coast and Waihi Beach. There are places along the coastline that you can freedom camp at and boy did we find a stunner! Small but right on the beach. So it was beer and crisps on the beach after we parked up, then a stunning sunset, followed by an even more gorgeous sunrise. Yes, this is the place for sitting and watching the world turn…with a beer!