Activity Summary
Wednesday 7th December - Day 97 (continued)
Drive to Coromandel
Thursday 8th December - Day 98
Hid away in a cafe
Waiomu Kauri Grove walk
Friday 9th December - Day 99
Carpe diem & forced fun
Waiau Falls
Whitianga town
Hot water beach
Cathedral Cove
Hahei beach
Saturday 10th December - Day 100
Drive to Tauranga
Summary
Coromandel
So much potential ruined by a washout week. Will try to go back and see in all its intended glory. C’est la vie.
Accommodation
Coromandel - Tapu Creek campervan park
Number of nights - 3
Price per night per person - £7
Very basic site but hot showers and cooking shelters give the very minimum we require on our trip. Would have loved to have used the river more with sunshine but it was just too torrential. The unpowered pitches were unfortunately situated in what became a bog so a smarter choice on our part would have made this more comfortable.
Diary
[Continued]
This time we decided to be brave and stay on the cheap camper path. Little did we know this was a horrendous idea and a storm would batter us senseless for 3 days. We had managed to get the tent up (dry) in a spot we chose probably a little too hastily (there was a nice cove higher up in the campsite) but it was flat and seemed alright. The campsite had an outdoor cooking shelter that was open from all directions so hardly sheltered, a toilet and warm showers. As basic as we were willing to get on our trip in all honesty.
It was fairly fresh by the time we came round to cook using our camping stove and by the time we went to bed. Luke copes a lot better with the “colder” weather than Nicola as she dons her finest homeless hat, gloves and all the layers plus sleeping bag she can muster to stay warm.
Both of us had a pretty terrible nights sleep. The wind was smashing into our quite large tent pretty viciously all night and the oak tree next to us was getting an equal share of this 12 round boxing match. The tree and our tent went the distance but definitely lost on points.
We both woke up very early, still with the wind whipping around, partly because we had both spent the night fearing either the tent was going to be uprooted or the tree would drop more substantial branches on top of us than it already was doing all night.
As the weather was less than optimal and the activities around the Coromandel peninsula were all outdoors we decided to cut our losses and have a chill day. We found a cafe in Thames, had various low cost coffee & snacks to ensure we weren’t kicked out over the afternoon and Nicola at one point went for a nap in the car. The cafe was not a great nomadic working spot as they actively said ‘we do not have WIFI - do not ask’ and we couldn’t find any power sources anywhere but we were too tired to try harder elsewhere.
With most of the cutting wind dying down, Luke planned a short walk in Coromandel forest park (Waiomu Kauri Grove walk) which was perfect for our low energy levels and got us moving around. It had an interesting start where we had to cross the river and another crossing to go see a nothing mining point of interest which had the only benefit of Nicola sinking her shoe in the river.
Back at the campsite Nicola was greeted by an incredibly large bug (think a weta?) so naturally had her first bug related freak out.
Luke used the lovely river on the campsite as his personal beer fridge as it was sadly too cold, wet and windy to use for swimming.
Our attempt to make food was unbelievably challenging. The food shelter wasn’t very good at providing its sole purpose of shelter, and the open air wind torrents were wreaking havoc on our sole gas burner. So after obliterating most of a canister trying to cook dinner, we finally managed to eat and settle down for the evening.
At this point Nicola had made the executive decision that a night in Chopper rather than the tent was required. Luke being the gentleman he is decided to leave her this space as there is most certainly not enough of it for both of us to sleep comfortably. That and 2 days of Nicola not sleeping is not fun at all for Luke and he’s well versed with not sleeping properly for long periods of time and still functioning. Sherry as further fuel usually helps but this is in short supply here sadly.
We hid away in the car watching TV together before Luke was kicked to the curb / tent.
The wind calmed down a lot by the morning but this had been replaced with some less than appealing rain thrown in the mix. Today and tomorrow were our last full days in Coromandel so we pretty much had no choice but to Carpe Diem baby. At least Nicola had slept.
One of the great walks to do in Coromandel is the Coromandel Coastal walkway - a 20km out and back with supposed great views. The weather wrecked this plan although Luke did need his overzealous ambitions of still attempting this reality checked.
The plan then was to drive around Coromandel with various stop offs at points of interest along the way. The first stop was Waiau Falls and our outdoor rain soaking. The water levels however did make the waterfall more impressive but not an overly long stopover before carrying on (it was really not far from the road to the waterfall thankfully).
The through roads quality between the campsite and coastal areas were pretty rough and the rain made the conditions a lot harder as this filled the unsuspecting potholes and made it more difficult to see the loose rocks & stones. Chopper took a bit of a beating.
With the rain unrelenting we opted to run into a coffee shop in Whitianga town. Very happy with our warm cheese scones and coffees (well hot chocolate for Nicola because she’s a child).
One of the main attractions in Coromandel is the hot water beach; an area that in low tide and armed with a spade people can dig and relax in warm water pools. We decided on a fleeting visit because we were concerned with getting a parking ticket and didn’t fancy going full ham and getting changed for a short lived experience and then running around all day wearing that wonderful salt water crispyness. Turns out the only ones brave enough (and armed with shovels) were the young families and parents who would rather suffer through the weather in order to entertain and tire their children out than risk this pent up excitement taking away from a chilled evening with faces buried in wine glasses. This is certainly how Luke expects to spend his future parenthood days.
We awkwardly dipped our toes in the hot water pools of some rando’s to see what the fuss was about before running away.
Our next stop was the cathedral cove. Initially we made the mistake of driving all the way to the start of the walk, despite many a warning sign saying turn around morons. After doing a nice loop we ended at the peasant parking and boarded the pleb wagon back to the start of the route with a chatty Irish driver that took a liking to the fact Luke had his knees out despite the weather. The only way you can tell it’s a UK summer… We timed this fairly well as we ended up overtaking the bus on the way down the hill so knew we had to have a quick change over once parked.
The walk to the cove was largely uneventful as it was a pretty well trodden path. We stopped off at one of the coves for our lunch before making it over to the cove. Not as pretty as the pictures but we were dry.
Rather than head back to the campsite, or go on any more walks in the Coromandel forest, we killed some time around Hahei with a walk along the beach and the small town before heading to the local pub (The Pour House) for a pint.
The road back remained ropey and Chopper took another pounding.
Back at the campsite we settled for as easy a meal as we could, so noodles for Luke and soup for Nicola. We got talking to a guy from Auckland, originally from the UK, who had biked up for the weekend but he came across quite strongly on his eco viewpoints and when he and Nicola didn’t agree on points Luke wanted to run away. So we did and hid in the car with the ipad again before Luke got kicked out to his more humble dwellings in the tent. At least this evening it wasn’t torrential rain and wind so the fear of the oak tree collapsing and killing him in his sleep had evaporated.
The day had come for us to leave Coromandel and we were pretty excited to after being blown around, drowned and just generally beaten up.
Turns out the weather has a pretty significant impact on the appeal of places when everything is outdoors.
The drama of packing up the tent in the rain we were fortunate enough to miss on this occasion. The lack of sun however meant there was very little we could do to dry it out so it was a rush jobby and the top sheet stuck in a bin liner. Future Luke’s problem.
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