Coromandel Peninsula

After leaving the Hawke's Bay region I spent a few days traveling to Coromandel Peninsula. On my way there I stayed a few nights at the Whakamarino Lodge at Lake Whakamarino. The lake was beautiful and very quiet. While there I got some good time to sleep, eat, and do a little fishing, but with none of the fish were large enough to keep or take pictures of. I still had a great time!

After leaving Lake Whakamarino I headed for tourism centered city of Rotorua for the weekend. In Rotorua I stayed at a large backpackers spending my day visiting the local Maori sites and bathing in the hot thermal spas and my night out partying with some people I met at a local bar.

I left rainy Rotorouta on Monday and caught a bus up to the Coromandel Peninsula town of Whitianga. Whitianga is a sea-side resort town in the center of Mercury Bay with with plenty of marine activities like scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking around the offshore islands. While in Whitianga I spent my first day kayaking in Mercury bay to the Shakespeare Cliffs and the next biking to the famous natural attractions of Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Cathedral Cove is located just 1 km North of Haihei Beach on a 45 minute trail from the car park. On the walk I stopped and visited the rocky cove of Gemstone Bay which is known for its excellent snorkeling, and the sandy cove at Stingray Beach. Lastly, the magnificent Cathedral Cove is found by walking down through a famous gigantic lime-stone arch.

After walking back from Cathedral Cove I headed farther south on my bike to Hot Water Beach. Hot Water Beach is 9km south of Hahei Beach and where thermal waters brew just below the sand in front of a rocky outcrop. At two hours each side of the low tides people gather at the beach, dig holes in the sand with a spade, and then relax in their own natural spa. With a 40 km round trip biking that day this was exactly what I did to relax and refuel.

I had a great time around Whitianga the Coromandel Penn. and got plenty of exercise kayaking and biking around the region. It was a really cool area that I look forward to exploring more of in the future.

Cheers,

James