The mountainous spine of land that almost encloses the Firth of Thames has been called “Auckland’s playground”, but its natural beauty deserves to be shared with all visitors.
The peninsula has great fishing, lush rainforests, pristine beaches, fascinating history — and locations that suit almost any activity from fossicking to surfing, tramping to mountain biking, or watching world-famous historic race cars rip up Rod Millen’s cliff-climbing driveway in Hahei every autumn.
It’s a peninsula that can be divided into two halves, so plan your drive route accordingly.
The lower half has more developed tourist infrastructure, sealed highways and is home to the beachfront baches of the rich and sometimes-famous.
The top half is comparatively wild, undeveloped to the point where the area’s five Department of Conservation camps make some of the best accommodation options. It is also full of beautiful beaches without a single structure to block the view. It’s the ideal place to leave modern life’s stresses and hassles behind.
Further dividing the peninsula into segments are the six roads that dissect it — four unsealed, and just the two crossings of the circular SH25 made dust-proof. The state highway is the Coro loop’s most travelled as it’s also the road easiest travelled, with opportunities to refill tanks and tummies at Mobil Kopu, Thames and Whitianga.
When sticking to SH25, a gravel road-free exploration of the peninsula still provides a great impression of its road trip charms. There’s the pohutukawa-shaded section of the highway that hugs the rocky coast of the firth, where the road climbs to a spectacular lookout high above Manaia and Coromandel Harbours, before dropping to Whangapoua Harbour in a descent that will take your breath away.
View some relics from the early booms of European settlement on the peninsula — the great kauri log harvest of the mid-19th century, followed by the mad rush for gold from 1868 to 1871.
It was the latter that was the making of Coromandel township, and the town still oozes old-world charm, courtesy of the century-old kauri structures that dominate its architecture. This contrasts with the all-glass and stainless steel you’ll find on the other side of the hills, Whitianga’s boom taking place mostly in the past 50 years. Take your pick of an overnight stop according to personal taste: Whitianga is the mini “Miami of the Coromandel”, while Coro-town is its “Sorrento” in miniature.
For those who don’t mind a little dust, there’s the “other peninsula”. The walk between the DoC camps at Fletcher and Stony Bays is mesmerising for its prominent headlands and views of Great Barrier Island. Two of the dusty roads that link the east and west coasts — the 309 from Coromandel to Kaimarama, and the Tapu-Coroglen Road — will take you past spectacular waterfalls and ancient remnant kauri forest.
Gucci loafers or Havaianas jandals, the Coromandel has something for everyone.
More miles, more adventures
Going fishing. If you have the time, taking a fishing charter in Manaia Harbour during offshore mussel farm harvest season is a reliable way to put fresh snapper on that evening’s dinner menu and offers some of the best fishing around. Especially if you can get your bait past all the swirling kahawai and kingfish to the bottom-feeding species that is the Kiwi connoisseur’s preferred choice of fish.
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