Thursday 11th December
Tairua
We woke to rain this morning. We are staying in a lovely A Frame apartment on the waterfront in the town of Thames, the first and largest town on the Coromandel Peninsula. It has a population of 6,500 and is certainly steeped in history.
However our aim for today, when we eventually got going was to drive east from Thames and cross the Peninsula and visit Tairua. We took a walk up to the highest point above the town and it was hard to know where to look. In every direction there was yet another wonderful view of beach, ocean, inlet, town, bay, boats, marina, jetties and beautiful houses and the classic kiwi bach (pronounced “batch”, which is a beach shack). Although these days the definition of a bach is rather upmarket, many a simply mansions – mostly unoccupied until closer to Christmas time.
After a coffee we drove north and checked out Hot Water Beach, although we were too early to dig a hole in the sand at low tide to make our own hot water mineral spa. We drove on further to Hahei Beach and Cathedral Cove. We took the 35 min walk to a beautiful cove and discovered the “hole in the rock” that is known as Cathedral Cove. The water was cold, but the sun was shining. We eventually dragged ourselves away from there was walked back up the hill and drove on further north to Whitianga. I think this would be a great place to stay. The weather on the east coast of the Peninsula is so much better than the western side.
Cathedral Cove
Cathedral Cove
We continued north then west across to the township of Coromandel. A quaint town of about 2000. It was another 55 kms drive down the coastal road back to Thames. The clouds rolled in and spoiled the view at times. Fortunately the drive is mostly right beside the water so the visibility is good there. We only encountered a little rain in the last 20 mins of the drive. The skies seem to be clearing so hopefully a clearer day tomorrow.