Coromandel Peninsular Roadtrip

25/10/10 - 27/10/10

First thing on the Monday morning (Labour Day), Johanna and I packed up our bags, flung them into the back of Dad's ute, and took off for the Coromandel Peninsula. And this time, it wasn't a matter of flying over the land - we had to navigate the long and windey, windey roads the whole way!

Our first stop (after buying a tent) was the Hot Water Beach, near Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga) on the east coast of the peninsula. It is so called because of the hot pools that can be created on the beach, as a result of the geothermal activity under the surface.

Digging our hole at Hot Water Beach

The science is as follows (courtesy of http://www.mercurybay.co.nz/activities/hotwaterbeach.php)

'Some volcanos develop huge underground reservoirs of superheated water. Over time, this water will escape to the surface — cooling on the way. There are two fissures at Hot Water Beach issuing water as hot as 64ºC (147ºF) at a rate as high as 15 litres/minute. This water contains large amounts of salt (NOT salt water), calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluorine, bromine and silica. There are other hot water springs nearby but the location of these two springs on the beach make them unique.'

So all you have to do is get there an hour either side of low tide, dig down into the sand to make your own little pool, and relax! Or that's the idea. Johanna and I found a great spot in the middle of others - steam rising from pools on both sides of us signified that our spot must be a good one! So we started digging. And digging. And digging. It didn't get hot! Surely we didn't really have to dig THIS deep? No-one else is... So we asked someone if there was a nack, and it was then that we realised our error. There are two streams of thermal activity, and we'd dug inbetween them - stupid!!!

See the steam!

The knack, apparently, is to wiggle your toes down into the sand, and if it's hot (and it can be VERY hot!), then it's a good place to dig! So we found another place and dug a wonderful hole, big enough for the two of us to relax in :)

 

Once we'd pruned up enough in the natural bath water (which was actually better than a bath, because it stayed hot and didn't go cold!), we headed off to Hahai, where we pitched up our tent for the night. Walking over to Cathedral Cove was lovely - it's a secluded beach cove that you have to walk for about 15 minutes through bush to get to.

 

Hahei Beach

Cathedral Cove

Cathedral Cove

Walking back, we decided to get some dinner at the only cafe in town. It was shut. Everything was shut. Oh yeah - it was Labour Day - a public holiday in NZ. Crap. So we walked back to the ute and drove to try and find somewhere, anywhere that was open! Eventually we found a fish and chip (fush and chup) shop in Cooks Bay / Beach, and ate them on the beach. In the dark, under the stars with just moonlight to guide us.

The next day we drove up to Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga) and then on to New Chums Beach, another secluded beach that you can only access via a 30 minute hike or by boat. It is counted as one of the 20 best beaches in the world, and it really is. A long crescent of white sand and crystal clear water with only 2 other people on the beach... pure bliss! Definitely worth the rock-hopping that it took to get there!

New Chums Beach

Then we made a bee-line up to Port Jackson at the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. The road to get there is just gravel for about 30km, but not nearly as bad as I'd been told. We were pretty much the only people in the campside, and we pitched up our tent right next to the beach. It was absolutley idylic, and we ate our dinner and drank our wine in the tent's awning as the sun was setting, listening to the waves on the shore. It doesn't get much better than that.

Port Jackson 

The next day, we packed up our tent and drove up a few km north to Fletcher Bay, where the road ends. The only way to get to the other side of the peninsular is to hike for 3 hours - but as we had our car at Fletcher Bay and didn't really fancy a 6 hour round-trip, we just hiked the 1 1/2 hours to the lookout point and back. It was pretty amazing. The bush has the most amazing smell, and has an incredible ability to make you feel rejuvinated when you've just walked up a huge hill. I know it makes me sound like a hippy, but I could really feel the energy of the forest on that hike. And the water that we drank from the stream was so pure. Bliss.

Walking around the peak of the Coromandel Peninsula - walk lookout

  

That's the lookout we were at, way up there! :)

When we got back to Fort Jackson, we made our way homeward bound, back down the peninsular to Katikati. We stopped in Coromandel for a cuppa at the Driving Creek Cafe (where our friend was going to be working), drank some L&P when we went through Peroa, and arrived back at dad's at about 8pm. What an awesome roadtrip, and Johanna was such a great travelling companion - I seriously hope that we meet again.

When we got back, Dad told us that he'd booked a bach (holiday home) down near Toupo for two nights, and would we like to go down with him and Sarah to do the Tongariro Crossing?? HELL YES WE WOULD!!! Woohoo! Another roadtrip!! :)

The rest of my pictures from the Coromandel Peninsula can be viewed at: https://picasaweb.google.com/104325393129888199376/201010NewZealandTheCoromandelPeninsulaFlyingOverAndDrivingThrough?authkey=Gv1sRgCNby8azLg4mW2QE