The Coromandel

Each time I go back to New Zealand I like to do a short pilgrimage back to the area I used to live in until I was around 5 – The Coromandel. Given that this is a stunning area of white-sand beaches and untamed native bush it's not too much of a hardship. I remember my mum telling me that she and my dad had a choice of moving here or a kiwi fruit plantation – they definitely made the right choice.

Our first stop, Tiarua, was where I used to live. Twenty five years ago this was a very small settlement with not much more than a post office. If it rained to much and the bridge flooded, our only source of milk was from the local farm. It is now a popular tourist destination with dozens of holiday homes and the requisite cute cafes. However, it's beach (predictably named Ocean Beach) remains a gorgeous sweep of empty white sand backed by sand dunes and dramatic cliffs. I think it still gets my vote as one of my favourite beaches in the world. We stayed the night in Tiarua, allowing for an evening stroll and a spot of swimming the next morning. We also paid a visit to my very first school and stood on the playing field were many years ago my pet sheep (predictably called Wooly) came last in the the pet show. He was a grubby brown colour when everyone else's was sparkling white – who would know that you need to wash them with Persil.
















We spent the next couple of nights a little up the coast in Whitianga. This served as a good base for visit two of Coromandel's most popular attractions – Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. Whilst the hoards of tourists meant it was impossible to create the pictures I have of me as a kid on deserted beaches, both are definitely still worth a visit.

Hot Water Beach is best visited at low tide as this is when it's namesake thermal hot water is accessible. We dutifully turned up about an hour or so before, at 6pm, with our spades, to be greeted by the very entertaining site of around 100 people desperately digging holes in the sand and building walls to protect them from the tide, which had not yet fully retreated. Rich started digging and and nearly made it back through to the UK before I convinced him that the hole wasn't in the right place to get any hot water. We then tried the much more effective tactic of helping someone else with a hot hole enlarge theirs. Much warmer and much more sociable. We then sat back, chatted with the other tourists and laughed at people sitting in the pools of cold water dug in the wrong place, only to give up and walk over the burning hot trickle of water next to our pool.














The next day we visited Cathedral Cove. After around 30 minute walk from the car park you arrive at a lovely white-sand beach with massive limestone arch which unsurprisingly looks a little like a cathedral. It is Despite the hoards it is still worth a visit.

Having not yet had our fill of beaches, we decided to fit in a couple more on our way back to Auckland. First stop was Kuaotuna which is an attractive long stretch of sand. This was however completely surpassed by the stunning beaches of Otama and Opito. Virtually empty with pristine white sand and crystal blue waters these are definitely worth the drive over the windy unsurfaced road to get to them. After a picturesque drive through the Coromandel Mountains and a coffee in the quaint old gold town of Coromandel, we arrived back in Auckland.














Our final night in New Zealand was spent with my cousin Julia and boyfriend John in typical kiwi style with a BBQ. We are very sad to be leaving and are sure we could have spent even longer here, but our next destination awaits.