Monday – Mount Maunganui…finally some sun!!

It was a glorious morning, with blue skies and brilliant sunshine…a great day for a walk!

We drove down the beach side road to the tip of the peninsula, parking up and starting a hike up Mount Maunganui (an old volcano), the mountain that gave the town it’s name. 

We started on the summit walk, which would take us to the top of the 232 metre ‘Mount’ (or Mauao as it is known to the Maori).

It was a tough steep climb, but the views from the top were well worth it.  We got perfect 360 degree views of the Bay of Plenty area and coastline, even catching a glimpse of the White Island (NZ’s most active marine volcano) in the distance.

According to Maori mythology, Mauao was once a nameless mountain that stood inland.  It came to rest in it’s current location after falling in love with a nearby mountain called Puwhenua.  When she did not reciprocate, Mauao was so upset he called upon his fairy-like friends to drag him to towards the coast and help him drown in the Te Moananui-a-kiwa (the Pacific Ocean) in the darkness of night.  He made it to the end of the peninsula, but at that moment the sun started rising.  His friends, being creatures of the night, were forced to flee back to the forest, and left him stranded there forever.  This is how the name Mauao came about, it means ‘caught by the dawn’.

Back down on the white sand beach we walked across to Moturiki Island, climbing to it’s summit to get superb views back to the beach, ‘Mount’ (Mauao) and the Pacific Ocean beyond.

After lunch we did the walk around the base of the mountain.  The walk was beautiful, aided by the lovely sunshine we were lucky enough to enjoy.  In the distance of the below photo you can see Moturiki Island, which we walked onto in the morning.

Before going back to the campsite we drove down to Papamoa Beach, where, like two oldies we sat in the van enjoying the sun, sea and sand with a drink!

Sunday – Athenree to Mount Maunganui

We left the campsite this morning a little sad, this place had become one of our favourites…the owners were so friendly and helpful, it was clean and had great facilities and the free Hot Springs were a big bonus!

We drove east, stopping first at the small town of KatiKati, the site of the first planned Ulster settlement in the world.  Today they remember their history, people and events in several murals that are around the main high street. 

Next stop was Minden Lookout, where we got some amazing (if a little cloudy) views over the Bay of Plenty coastline.

The mountain in the distance is Mount Maunganui, where we would end our journey today.

Before going there we headed inland to visit McLaren Falls, where we had hoped to do some walks.  Unfortunately the weather was not on our side, and a thunder storm had moved in, bringing with it heavy rain, hail stones and lightening.  We opted for a quick photo, and decided to drive straight to our camp site.

We checked in at the Golden Grove Holiday Park and have had a lazy Sunday afternoon in the van, reading and chilling out.

Saturday – Athenree, a day at Karangahake Gorge

A nervous glance out the van window this morning, as we were hoping the rain would hold off long enough to get out and do a walk, and at the moment it looked promising! 

We packed up fast and headed off to Karangahake Gorge, doing a quick detour to Paeroa, the home of NZ’s famous soft drink ‘L&P’.  Now you would be forgiven for having never heard of this brand, who’s strap line is ‘World famous in New Zealand’.  We made the pilgrimage to it’s home town so Ben could have a photo with another ‘big thing’…the larger than life L&P bottle.

We then arrived at the Gorge car park; walking gear on, and back pack filled with lunch and drinks we started off on the Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway, alongside the Ohinemuri River.

Karangahake is the site of the original gold rush in 1875, and steeped in gold mining history, on the walkway we passed many old buildings from this bygone era.

The path followed the old train tracks to Waikino Station, where onwards from here there is still a line running from Waikino on towards the coast at Waihi.  We stopped at the restored station platform and ate lunch.

After which we retraced our steps back along our previous route, stopping for a quick look around the Victoria Battery.

Constructed in 1896 and crushing 800 tonnes of Martha Mines gold bearing ore each day, using 200 stamps, it was the largest quartz crushing plant for gold extraction in Australasia.

On returning to the car park we started on the Karangahake Tunnel walk, a 1km walk through a partially lit railway tunnel.  It was dark, wet and very eerie….we had never been so relieved to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We then started what is possibly one of our favourite walks in NZ, a journey up through a truly stunning gorge.  Passing through old mining tunnels, seeing stamper batteries, ore roasting kilns, and aerial tramways.

With sheer drops down to one side, and rugged cliff faces the other there was only one way forward, and that was through the dark and wet tunnels.  Luckily we came armed with a torch, however we still came out at the end wet and muddy.

It was like we were in our own ‘Indiana Jones’ film, some of us taking the acting part a little too seriously!

After a long day walking we got back to the camp site at 6, and went for a nice long soak in the Hot Springs.

Friday – Whitianga to Athenree, via NZ’s ‘Heart of Gold’

We had a beautiful drive along the coast this morning, passing through small coastal towns, and winding through hilly mountain passes. 

We arrived in Waihi, the ‘heart of gold’ town famous for it’s huge open pit goldmine, and opted to go for a little look around.  The Gold Mining Museum was fascinating, with relics from the late 1800s when mining first began here, and also ‘toys’ from today's mining exploits.

We then started out on the Pit Rim Walkway, a 4 kms walk that would take us around this spectacle.  As we neared the pit wall, the view down into the ground was amazing, at 250 metres deep the huge diggers in the bottom were merely a speck.

The lure of gold brought people to Waihi in the late 1870s, after gold bearing quartz was discovered here in 1878.  The Martha Mine (picture above) was born in 1879 as a closed pit, with tunnels stretching 600 metres underground, and for several kms in length.  It finally closed it’s doors in 1952, and was only reopened in 1987 in it’s current state after the price of gold increased.

Quite a few of the old relics from the closed pit days were still standing, so we had a look around the Cornish Pump House (pictured below), and the dynamite stores.

Also on the walk was a ‘retired’ 777 truck, used to carry the excavated loads…we felt very small next to it!

Once we had finished the walk we jumped in the van and drove out to Waihi Beach, a 9km stretch of golden sand that was the perfect place to eat lunch!

After which we headed across to the small coastal village of Athenree to check in to our campsite, the Athenree Hot Springs and Holiday Park.  Luckily for us we got free use of the Hot Springs as we were guests, so needless to say we spent the rest of the afternoon sat in them, relaxing!

Thursday – A trip to visit the sights around Whitianga: Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach

A short drive this morning took us around Mercury Bay to Hahei, a small but legendary Kiwi beach town, which according to the guide books is heaving in the summer…but deadly quiet in the Winter.

We parked up in the car park just north of town and started on the track, which gave amazing views along the Coromandel coast.

Our first stop on route to Cathedral Cove was the very rocky Gemstone Bay, a favourite with snorkelers, as it was the perfect place to see big snapper, crayfish and stingrays.  Unfortunately for us the weather was still unsettled and the sea a bit rough, so no snorkelling.  Next stop was Stingray Bay, a beautiful secluded bay, with some amazing honeycombed cliffs (pictured below).

We climbed down a couple of hundred steps to reach our destination, Cathedral Cove, a stunning white sandy beach with the gigantic limestone arch.

Perched precariously on top of this cliff were ‘NZ Christmas trees’, and unsurprisingly due to rock fall risk (and tree fall risk) the cove was closed to the public.

We opted instead to enjoy the rest of the beaches beauties, its stunning natural rock formations…which Ben literally got stuck into!

And the stunning natural waterfall shower.

We even discovered the best public toilets of our trip with regards to a perfect view whilst doing ‘your business’…they were on the second floor, with a window looking out onto the beach!  Sadly the picture doesn’t quite do it justice.

As we climbed the stairs back to the van we felt like we had discovered a truly picturesque spot!

Next stop on our tour was Hot Water Beach…we hired a spade from the local cafe and prepared ourselves to dig our own spa! 

So, let us welcome you all to one of NZ’s most popular and fascinating natural wonders!  For 2 hours either side of low tide you can access an area of sand in front of a rocky outcrop, where you can dig your own spa pool as water from hot springs seeps up through the sand.  For a more technical explanation of this natural phenomenon see below!

We began digging, and soon enough once the pool was forming the heat was tremendous.  We had to have breaks from our personal home made spa pool as the heat was so intense!

As we sat with the 30 or so other ‘diggers’ it was quite relaxing, even when a wave came in from the ocean and cooled the pool down.

Once we had thoroughly baked our skin we jumped out and changed clothes back at the van. 

Next we drove the short distance to the Whitianga Rock Scenic Reserve, climbing the track up to the Ngato Hei Pa site, where we got amazing views across the bay to Whitianga town.

Last stop on the tour was Shakespeare Point, a cliff formed by volcanic ash, and also, as we found out the main Tsunami evacuation route!  The views from the top were stunning, not hard to see why Captain Cook chose this part of the coast to come ashore in 1769.

As the afternoon had passed us by we headed back to the Harbourside Holiday Park for our second and last night in Whitianga.

Wednesday – Thames to Whitianga, driving the Coromandel coast

We left Thames this morning, rejoining the highway that snakes around the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula.  Described as an untouched paradise the roads were empty, and the drive scenic.  As we drove up the western coast the steep rocky mountains terminated abruptly at the sea, allowing just enough room for the road.

As we drove up over the headland we dropped down towards the town of Coromandel, getting some amazing views north to the outlying islands.

We stopped in the town itself for a break and wander around the shops.  Gold was discovered here in 1852, and the old wooden heritage buildings from that era still line the main high street today.  Our favourite was the ‘Star and Garter Hotel’.

We then did the short but steep drive up over a mountain range to drop down onto the east coast, stopping for some lunch at a scenic picnic spot.

We arrived in Whitianga in the early afternoon and checked into the Harbourside Holiday Park, our most expensive campsite of the trip so far! 

We took a walk into town and sussed out the tide times ready for tomorrows explorations.  As the weather has turned bad again we have spent the rest of the day chilling in the van….the forecast for the week ahead – rain, showers, and more rain :-(!!