I Gotta Get Me a Beach House

Well rested, well fed, and with the amazingly generous offer of the use of their beach house on the Coromandel Peninsular, we parted company with our hosts, and with Auckland, and headed east. After a couple of days' driving around we thought we had begun to get used to New Zealand roads, but nothing could prepare us for the coastal route along the peninsular through Coromandel Town, where we stopped for lunch and a wander around, and on over the headland to Matarangi. Seemingly 50% of the bends had 25kmh advisory speed limits, and often even that was optimisitic. So we twisted and turned our way along glorious white beaches, sapphire waters and awe-inspiring native forests and blessed the automatic gearbox in our hire car. Some of the views afforded out over the islands off the Coromandel bay were staggering - I fell in love with the peninsular immediately.

Once at Matarangi we made ourselves at home for a few days while we explored the local sights - the stunning white arches and stacks of Cathedral Cove; the bizarre subterranean volcanic springs at 'Hot Water Beach'; the bustling little town of Whitianga. It was a few days of absolute bliss - long dawn walks along the beach, cup of tea in hand; delicious barbeques and relaxed outdoor suppers; boozy Monopoly marathons; clear Mediterranean light; clean, broad beaches and green inpenetrable hills. I would love to have stayed longer and walked myself into a deep sleep every day but, as ever, the clock was ticking.

written by

Alex Kent on December 3, 2007 from Coromandel, New Zealand

from the travel blog: On the Varieties of Nature

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