The Coromandel Peninsula

The Coromandel’s gateway and main service hub, the historic former gold town of THAMES is packed into a narrow strip between the Firth of Thames and the Coromandel Range. It retains a refreshingly down-to-earth sense of community, and its range of accommodation, eateries, transport connections and generally lower prices make it a good starting point for forays further north.

Its gold legacy forms the basis of the town’s appeal and you can spend half a day visiting the several museums, though they’re all volunteer-run and, frustratingly, open at different times – summer weekends work out best.

Fans of Victorian architecture can spend a happy couple of hours wandering the streets aided by the maps in two free leaflets – Historic Grahamstown and Historic Shortland & Tararu.

Inland, the industrial heritage is all about kauri logging in the Kauaeranga Valley, a popular destination for hikers visiting the Coromandel Forest Park and easily accessible from town.

Brief history

Thames initially evolved as two towns: Grahamstown to the north, and Shortland to the south. The first big discovery of gold-bearing quartz was made in a creek-bed in 1867, and by 1871 Grahamstown had become the largest town in New Zealand with a population of around 20,000 and over 120 pubs, only a handful of which remain today. Due to the reliance on machinery (rather than less costly gold-panning), gold mining tailed off during the 1880s and had mostly finished by 1913. Little of significance has happened since, leaving a well-preserved streetscape.

The steep-sided Kauaeranga Valley stretches east of Thames towards the spine of the Coromandel Peninsula, a jagged landscape of bluffs and gorges topped by the Pinnacles (759m), with stupendous views to both coasts across native forest studded with rata, rimu and kauri. It’s reached along the scenic and mostly sealed Kauaeranga Valley Road snaking 21km beside the river, providing access to some of the finest walks in the Coromandel Range. The road winds through regenerating bush containing scattered “pole stands” of young kauri that have grown since the area was logged a century ago: only a handful in each stand will reach maturity.

The ease of access to these tracks can lead trampers not to take them as seriously as other tramps, but in bad weather the conditions can be treacherous, so go properly prepared.

Note that the soil-borne kauri dieback disease is not present in Coromandel kauri forests. If you’ve recently visited the Auckland or Northland forests (which do have kauri dieback), be extra vigilant about cleaning your footwear.

The peninsula’s northernmost town of any substance is charming little COROMANDEL, 58km north of Thames, huddling beneath high, craggy hills at the head of Coromandel Harbour.

From the south, SH25 becomes Tiki Road and then splits into two: Wharf Road skirts the harbour while Kapanga Road immediately enters the heart of town, which is made up of photogenic wooden buildings, where all you’ll find are a couple of supermarkets and petrol stations, a bank and a cluster of cafés. A couple of blocks further on, it becomes Rings Road, before heading northwards out of town towards the main attractions, the stamper battery and the Driving Creek Railway.

Brief history

The town and peninsula took their name from an 1820 visit by the British Admiralty supply ship Coromandel, which called into the harbour to obtain kauri spars and masts. A more mercenary European invasion was precipitated by the 1852 discovery of gold, near Driving Creek.

The ingenious Driving Creek Railway is the country’s only narrow-gauge hill railway. It was built mostly by hand and is the brainchild of Barry Brickell, an eccentric local potter and rail enthusiast who wanted to access the clay-bearing hills.

The track is only 381mm wide and climbs 120m over a distance of about 3km, rewarding you with spectacular views, extraordinary feats of engineering and quirky design; at the end of the line panoramas extend from a specially constructed wooden lodge, the Eyefull Tower. The journey starts and ends at the workshops, where you can see various types of pottery: stoneware, bricks and earthenware items, and sculptures made from terracotta. There’s also a video about Brickell and a sculpture garden in a wildlife sanctuary designed to protect the local and visiting birdlife.

Pretty WHITIANGA clusters where Whitianga Harbour meets Buffalo Beach, a long curve of surf-pounded white sand on the broad sweep of Mercury Bay.

The town is a relaxed place to chill for a day or two, perhaps trying bone carving or getting pampered at The Lost Spring hot pools. It also makes a central base from which to make a series of half-day and day-trips to some of the Coromandel’s top spots. A short passenger ferry ride across the narrow harbour mouth to Ferry Landing opens up a bunch of gorgeous beaches such as Lonely Bay. They’re often deserted out of season, though from December to February you’ll have to work harder to find tranquillity. By taking a bus from Ferry Landing (or driving south via Whenuakite) you can access Cathedral Cove, a stunning geological formation with great swimming, and magical Hot Water Beach, where natural hot springs bubble up through the sand.

Offshore, the protected waters of Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove) Marine Reserve offer superb snorkelling and scuba diving. Cathedral Cove, the marine reserve and the extraordinary array of volcanic island and sea caves offshore are the main focus of a range of boat tours and kayak trips from Hahei and Whitianga. Bottlenose dolphins and orca are often seen.

With the opportunity to dig your own hot pool in the sands next to the breakers, Hot Water Beach is understandably one of the most popular destinations on the Coromandel Peninsula. The hot springs which bubble up beneath the sand can only be exploited two hours either side of low tide (less in rough weather; check tide times at the Whitianga i-SITE). Wander 100m across the sands to the rocky outcrop that splits the beach in two, dig your hole and enjoy the hot water, refreshed by waves. You’ll need a spade to dig your “spa”: rent one from your accommodation, the Hot Water Beach Store or Hot Waves Café.

The springs have become so popular – up to 500 people crowd the beach at peak times – that some prefer to come at night: bring a spade and a torch. The beach here has a dangerous tidal rip: take care when swimming.

SH25 and SH2 meet at the southernmost town on the Coromandel Peninsula, WAIHI, 30km south from Whangamata. The small town merits a quick stop to sample its gold mining, both past and present.

Brief history

Gold was first discovered here in a reef of quartz in 1878, but it wasn’t until 1894 that a boom began with the first successful trials in extracting gold using cyanide solution. Workers flocked, but disputes over union and non-union labour ensued, and the violent Waihi Strike of 1912 helped galvanize the labour movement and led to the creation of the Labour Party.

Although underground mining stopped in 1952, extraction was cranked up again in 1987 in the open-cast but well-hidden Martha Mine. As the open-cast mine slowly winds down (possibly closing around 2020), recent finds of deep veins have re-focused mining minds on tunnel mining. Current proposals to mine right under the town are likely to be challenged in the Environment Court by concerned residents.