I already mentioned that my relatives in Waihi are quite distant and it took some time and a call to my grandmother to sort it all out. As it turned out Theo is my Grand Aunt 2. Degree (The cousin of my Grandmother). She and her husband Robin (married for over 60 years!) gave me a warm welcome in their lovely Cottage:

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Robin&Theo

With 6 children, 14 grandchildren and a slowly rising number of great grandchildren their family is huge and well spread over New Zealand, Australia and England.

Waihi is also called the Town with a Heart of Gold due to its strong gold mining history and you see that on every corner:

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Got their first hotel back in 1896 and it's still operating:

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Waihi Beach is only a 10 minutes drive away so we did a lot of swimming there and if you like a change from the waves there is a beautiful calm bay further down the coast:

bea-NZ-bop-Anzac_bay