The Coromandel Peninsula

We left the Auckland region and headed south east to the Coromandel Peninsula. Auckland´s Hauraki Gulf is separated form the Pacific by the long peninsula of the Coromandel. We decided to spend a relaxed week exploring the whole place, I remember reading about this region in the guide book about 2 years ago and had been looking forward to it ever since! So first stop was little coastal town Miranda where we stopped and had our first brunch in the van- smoked salmon and scrambled eggs..we like to live in style in our van!! We then drove on to the small former gold town of Thames which is actually the peninsula´s biggest town of 10,000 people.

We found a great little cheese farm nearby called Matoki Cheese and spent a good hour tasting all we could! We came away with a very tasty Gouda cheese! Our second night was spent in a lovely sandy bay north of Thames on the Pohutukawa coast.

The next day we made our way up the west coast past lots of tiny pretty bays with cliffs and steep hills dropping down to the road lined with hundreds of Pohutukawa trees that blaze up red at Christmas time. We stopped in Coromandel Town, about 60k north of Thames,for some highly recommended smoked mussels from the Coromandel Smoking Company. Apparently mussels are a speciality in the Coromandel so we intended to eat as many as we could! We kept driving north, past tiny little village Colvile- the last stop for food and petrol before heading far north. We stocked up at Colvile General Store where you could get anything and everything you wanted!

The 2 hour drive from there was stunning, we stopped for some spectacular views out over the beautiful beaches and bays we passed. The landscape became very rugged with green hills and endless beaches with the lovely turquoise water sparkling under the sun. We made it all the way up to the very tip of the Peninsula and the best beach of all, Fletcher Bay. The camp-site was right on the beach so we ate our yummy smoked mussels with a beautiful ocean view.

On Saturday we undertook the amazing 11k Coromandel Coastal Walk between Fletcher Bay and Stony Bay. The hike was fantastic with spectacular sea views.The walk followed lots of rolling green hills where we met a few sheep and cows along the way, we had incredible views over to the hauraki islands and out to the Pacific.

Our midway destination Stony Bay is a lovely little pebble beach. We decided to take the different way back and it turned out to be a never-ending up hill battle for about an hour! Very tiring and unexpected but great views at the top! The hike took a total of 6 hours..we had a lovely relaxing evening after in front of our first ´Chris made´ fire which cooked some delicious lamb steaks!


The next day we drove to Waikawau Bay on the west coast of the peninsula..one of best beaches we´ve ever seen!! We then, with a quick stop in Coromandel Town to stock up on those tasty smoked mussels, made our way down to more stunning beaches on the west coast. My favourite was Opito, a white sandy idyllic beach where we stayed the night.

We drove down to Whitianga the next day. The town isn´t of much interest but the surrounding areas are great. There is Cathedral Cove, a stunning geological formation of rocks, striking white cliffs and a long sandy beach with an impressive rock arch that looks a bit like the nave of a cathedral.



There is also the famous Hot Water Beach which we visited at low tide, there are hot water springs underneath the beach bubbling below the sand! We hired a spade and dug ourselves our own spa pool! It was sooo hot!!

Then there was stunning Cooks Beach where Captain Cook landed in 1769. Another lovely beach nearby is Hehei Beach- we stayed the night nearby with more amazing ocean views!

The next day we visited my favourite beach so far in New Zealand and my 4th favourite in the world...Opoutere beach.


We walked about 20mins through thick forest and suddenly arrived on this completely deserted picture perfect white sanded pristine 4km beach backed by a pine forest. It was such a lovely sunny day we sunbathed for first time in New Zealand!

We then drove on to lovely Whangamata for some great fish and chips and sat on the beach watching the surfers.

We drove south to Waihi and visited a huge gold mine in the middle of the strange town, then onto the Karangahake Gorge where we spent the night.