Kuaotunu

 

After leaving the Boatshed at Coromandel we travelled around the coast a little to a place called Kuaotunu. We pulled off the road near the boat ramp and found a magic spot to park—right by the sea. I don’t think we could get any closer.

  

 

Our friends from Hahei, Rick & Chic, had been going to travel with us on our “Coromandel Tour”, but things happened and they couldn’t join us back at Thames as we’d hoped. They told us about this prime parking spot and hoped to catch up with us here. 

The view through our window:

It's right near the boat ramp at the western end of Kuaotunu.

 

 

 

Once again, Lucy loved the beach, bouncing along enjoying the off-lead freedom.

The weather was stunning and we enjoyed several beach walks. 

 

More Coromandel bird life: there were several dotterels—nesting at this time of year . . . 

(Addendum: it has been pointed out to me that dogs are not allowed near dotterels nesting. We kept Lucy on a leash the one time we noticed these birds—at the far end of the beach near the township.)

. . . and an oyster catcher . . .

. . . as well as the ever-present seagull. I caught this one having a bath in a small stream running down to the beach.

At the far end of the beach was a small township, and on one of our walks we wandered in off the beach to check it out. We found a nice little café and stopped for coffee. It was next door to Luke’s Kitchen, and it was from this place that tantalising aromas of garlic and pizza were emanating. Note to self: We must come here for dinner with Rick and Chic after they arrive tomorrow.

 

At the end of the day, one tired doggie.

Kauotunu was once a thriving gold-mining town. As you drive around the Coromandel, you'll notice a lot of “No Mining” signs as the locals voice their opinion about any future mining in the region.

The beach has a ‘local’ touch, personalising it as part of their extended outdoor space. The occasional seating place along the beach created a friendly, homely atmosphere. You could almost feel like you were trespassing, but the couch was too tempting . . .  

We decided to backtrack a little and went for a drive up to Whangapoua, intending to walk to New Chums Beach. When we got there, however, we found that dogs were not allowed on the track. The weather was turning drizzly anyway, so we abandoned that plan. Just a quick look at the beautiful white sands of Whangapoua Beach before leaving.

We headed back, past where we had parked up the rig and drove east out to Opito Bay. As we left Kuaotunu, the road climbed quite quickly to where we had a great view back down over the beach.

And from higher up . . . . We could see our rig in the distance.

 A closer view.

Another narrow road with lots of tight corners. Much of this trip was on unsealed road. I was happy we'd left the rig behind! Eventually we were looking down at Opito Bay. 

Opito Bay was just beautiful. It was worth the drive. The weather was still not great—cold and windy—so no Opito Beach walk this trip.

 

 

The next day, our friends Rick and Chic arrived. More beach walks and long catch-up talks, laughter and reminiscing. Bliss. No time for taking photos!

On our third day, a cold wind had settled in and so we packed up to move on to the next stop: Simpsons Beach. We never did make it to Luke's Kitchen. Clearly, a return trip is required!

Coromandel Town

We’re coming across lots of tourists—Canadians, Germans, Americans, French, Welsh and a couple from Belgium. It’s great to meet and chat to them, as well as the kiwis out there enjoying our beautiful country. This is one of the highlights for us . . . people are so interesting. And the kiwis? New Zealand is so small, really. There's usually a connection somewhere if you listen long enough.

We parked up just outside of Coromandel Town at a CAP (Charges Apply Parking) property: "Coromandel Boat Storage".

 The view from the door of our rig:

 

They had a lovely garden area and the bird life was a treat. I managed to capture a photo of this pair of quail settled down on the lawn.

And then this kingfisher finally sat still long enough for me to focus and click. This photo was taken from the door of our rig.

Where we were staying was just a short trip into Coromandel Town and about a kilometre down the road from some old friends we knew from when we lived in Stratford, Taranaki (10 years ago now)—Basil & Dawn Avery. It must be about seven years since we were up this way. So good to catch up again. Don’t you love the way some people never change? Years between visits, and just the same wonderful people.

Coromandel Town has a population of just under 27,000 according to Tourism.net. I love the way they’ve managed to retain the past without appearing dingy. 

Dave tells me he used to ride a bike like this back in Te Kuiti delivering groceries as an after-school job. They were very front heavy when loaded up, and if he hit the curb, the groceries would topple out!

How old do you suppose this wringer washing machine is?

A testimony to Coromandel's gold mining history . . .

This colourful display caught my eye. A positive sign that Summer truly is coming soon!

One of the police vehicles I saw in town was an SUV. Now that's a first—I don't think I've ever seen a police SUV before. Station Wagons, yes, but not an SUV. Here's the local constabulary. Cute!

Dave went to check out this place, but the prices were a bit more than we were prepared to pay, so no smoked mussels for dinner.

We went for a drive (without the rig) up to Colville. It was nice to revisit an old favourite—Oamaru Bay.

It’s a delightful little bay with a bunch of homes barely a stone's throw from the beach. There's a camping ground to the left as well where we stayed in a wee cabin a few years ago when we were up this way on our motorbikes.

Looking out across Oamaru Bay was this little island.

Looking a little closer, you can see someone lives here!

Coromandel is well known for its artists, crafts, alternative lifestylers, recreational fishing and mussel farms. This is one of the mussel farms we drove past. They're easier to see when you a bit elevated.

We eventually arrived at Colville Bay—sadly, the tide was out. 

But this exposed the Loch Ness monster! Can you see it? (Tip: if you click on the photo it will enlarge.)

Here's a closer view. Very well done . . .

We stopped for an ice cream (the first for the “Summer”) at the Colville General Store before heading back to Coromandel Township.

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.