The Tip of Coromandel

The upper northern tip of the Cormandel Peninsula is all dirt roads but today we haved proved that it is worth the effort to drive them!

The day dawned frostily, but absolutely perfectly and stayed that way all day, a delightful change from previous days, and, according to the weather forecast, not what we can expect in days to come. It was very cold but 100% sunny.

With this good weather, we told our motel that we would stay another night, and set out. Frankly, this coastline is stunning, and photographs cannot do it justice. Rocky beaches are spaced by jutting headlands and backed with rolling hills populated by sheep (mostly) and cows. The animals rightly think they own these roads, and it took us some time to get by a few herds of both varieties.

Apart from a tiny general store at Colville, the top of the peninsula is devoid of any sources of sustenance, and at the motel we were warned to buy a sticky bun in Coromandel Town before leaving for the day. Instead, we took some leftovers from last night's dinner, and they served us very well.

We lunched at the very northern tip of the peninsula, a prominent hill called Mt. Moehau (photo of us). From there we also did an hour on the Coromandel Walkway. It was very scenic but very boggy, and our boots needed some attention on return. And Mike attempted a swim on the totally deserted rocky beach there, but the water was just too cold and he chickened out before full immersion.

The drive from Colville up to Mt Moehau is 66km return, and we saw only one other vehicle in this whole sector, amazingly for a Sunday. We think the dirt roads are discouraging for many New Zealanders, but of course Aussies think little of them. These roads are narrow, very twisty and steep with sheer dropoffs, but mostly good surface, but sometimes very rocky. There are hundreds of washouts from recent storms adding to the thrill of the drive.

We came back to Coromandel Town via the "scenic" route, by crossing the peninsula and coming down the eastern, ocean side. Still all dirt roads, but there are a few small townships here, not big enough for shops, and still no traffic. The Pacific coast scenery rewarded the extra distance, although the surf was very mild, and the view coming over the ridge into Coromandel Town was one of the best (photo).