Coromandel Peninsula

Just when we thought we had seen the last of the NZ summer weather with the ex tropical storm at the bach at Pukehina we seem to have hit on an Indian summer with blue skies and 25 deg C+ temperatures.  So rather than spend too much time in the car we have scouted out more great beaches. From Pukehina we headed north to the Coromandel Peninsula, a well know holiday area in NZ. On Chris's advice we decided to base ourselves in Whitianga for a couple of nights and hit on this rather nice apartment on the sea front.

 

 

 

Manana, manana probably equates roughly to "no worries" in Australasian speak and that's how we felt about this place.  The owners live in the rooms above with a super view over Mercury Bay, the guests below, in two well appointed apartments a stone's throw from the beach.

What a fascinating beach, long straight waves a couple of feet high so good for jumping in and just about enough for beginners to learn to surf in and the beach made up of sand and lots of shells.

The day after our arrival we went to explore the beaches across the bay via the foot ferry.

So as not to make it too easy, instead of walking along the road to the beach (5 minutes) we tramped along the Maramatotara track up and over the hill (40 minutes) and worked up quite a sweat which made the approach to the Flaxmill Bay beach all the more worthwhile.

After a very lazy day on the beach doing beach things we did take the quick route back to the ferry and came across the perfect retirement job for Denise - librarian of this little library which must contain all of a couple of hundred books.  Tidy up the shelves for 20 minutes and shoot the breeze with the borrowers (max 4 per day judging by how many of the adjacent properties look like holiday lets) then spend the rest of day on the beach, returning to lock up after the last ferry has left!

Today we drove towards the northern coast of the peninsula and at one point stopped at a scenic lookout atop the Coromandel Ranges.  As there were lots of other tourists there we branched off onto what looked like a well worn track into the bush anticipating a good viewpoint.  After 30 minutes we reached this signpost and decided to see if we could reach the trig point.  However Colin was only wearing flip flops (sorry locals, jandals) and after another 10 minutes of slipping and sliding on mossy rock and vegetation we thought we'd better draw stumps.

 

A pity, as given a good pair of walking boots we would have zoomed to the top and been rewarded with this view over Coromandel Town that we then saw from a lay-by further down the road.



Arriving in Coromandel Town out of synch with the famed train times to the pottery we just had coffee and cake and headed on to Thames.

Here we only just made it with 20 minutes to spare before closing time at the Thames School of Mines Mineralogical museum.  Nikki had spotted this in the Lonely Planet guide some weeks ago and was keen to see what it was all about.  It didn't disappoint, even with only 20 minutes to take it in.  A fascinating collection of rocks and minerals from NZ and all over the world, including a tray of granites etc from the Camborne School of Mines with accompanying map of the Lizard and Land's End peninsula where we used to live.

Whilst Nikki was indulging her interest in small local museums, Colin went in hunt of accommodation in Thames for the night and decided we would be better off at the motel he had spied as we entered the town.  Good choice, especially when he achieved a discount by helping the owner sort out his internet access problem (it wasn't his problem it was the providers'). This chalet overlooked the Firth of Thames and once again we thought it was a shame we weren't staying longer.