Waiomu, Coromandel

The first beach we stayed at on the Coromandel Peninsula was at Waiomu, just north of Thames. 

They have freedom camping spots on a lot of the beaches up this side—note it is important to park in the designated area, or there are large fines ($200). When we first arrived, we read the signs about freedom camping being okay and dogs being allowed off leash at this particular time of year, but nothing about having to park in a specific area. So we picked a stunning spot and settled in. For all of ten minutes . . .

Dave went exploring down the far end near where a bus was parked and it was here he found the designated parking area. Between the blue signs. So we hitched up again and moved away from our prime real estate to a not-quite-so-nice spot. Not complaining. We could still hear the waves breaking on the beach at night and until a few more campers squeezed in alongside us, we had a fair view of the beach.

The next morning, the council man came around checking, so just as well we'd moved!

We stayed at Waiomu a couple of nights. It was lovely, even though we had a few showers. We went for a few walks along the beach—as far as we could go without clambering over too many rocks. 

We saw a couple of oyster catchers that ran off the beach up into the grass as we approached them.

There was an amazing tree in the middle of this park area—a Pohutukawa—it was huge. And it had these great clumps hanging down from its branches. Apparently they’re aerial roots and the branches of the tree can root when they bend down to touch the ground. Fascinating!

On the second day we visited the Waiomu Beach Café across the road for coffee and a snack. Fabulous place (food, coffee, staff, comfort, view)—I recommend it.

There was this interesting sign outside the shop next door.

Dave tried his hand at fishing off the rocks, but no luck. Our bus neighbours had no success with fishing either. We joined them for a glass of wine on the second evening. No sunset, but still a stunning view.

And when we turned around to look at the hills, we could see the rain coming.