On Monday 25 April 2016, I collected a group of 7 people (from South Korea) at their apartment in the central city at 8.45am and we headed for Coromandel. The tour was originally planned for the previous day but the weather forecast was for rain on 24 April, so we changed the date. As it turned out, this was a good move. While there were a couple of short rain showers early on, the day became warm, about 23 degrees, with a clear blue sky.
Coromandel – $80 per person, full day tour.
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Destination: Coromandel
The drive was just under 2 hours and our first stop was at Ocean Beach, Tairua, which is a beautiful beach with nice, even surf.
After a short stay there, we went to Paku Hill (sometimes spelled Paaku). There is a short, steep walk to the lookout on the top of the hill. It can be a bit tricky near the top, but won’t cause problems for anyone with moderate fitness. The views from the top are spectacular, looking over the islands out to sea, as well as Pauanui Beach and Tairua harbour.
Our next stop (after a 25 minute drive) was at Hot Water Beach where we had lunch and then took our spade and bucket, which I had bought in the car with us, and made our way to the middle of the beach where there were already a lot of people digging holes in the sand, releasing the hot water which gives the beach its name.
In the centre, the water is much too hot to even stand in, but slightly to the side, it is pleasantly hot – perfect for a hot bath or it can be mixed with seawater for a warm bath.
From Hot Water Beach, it is only a 20 minute drive to the carpark at Cathedral Cove. From the carpark, there is a 45 minute walk on a good pathway, mostly through bush. As soon as we arrived at Cathedral Cove, we were welcomed by the iconic sight which has been made famous in the Narnia movies (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and Prince Caspian).
For most of the group, this place was the highlight of the day – a truly remarkably beautiful place. We left the beach as the sun was getting lower in the sky and reached the carpark just before sunset.
We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Whitianga and our last stop of the day in the Coromandel region was on the side of the road ‘in the middle of nowhere’. There were absolutely no lights from anywhere and as it was a cloudless sky, it seemed we could see every star in the sky and they were shining so brightly. The Milky Way was an impressive sight.
After stargazing, we made our way back to Auckland, arriving at 10.30pm
