Was a cold, wet and windy night. The South Island is covered in snow, which explains the bitter day we had. Even though it was cold 13C the sun was shining and we had a lovely day exploring the Peninsula.
About 10am, we headed north from Whitianga to Whangapoua, stopping at the beaches along the way.
Matarangi Beach
At Whangapoua, we decided to do the 30 minute walk to New Chum beach. It has been voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I can see why. It is not easy to get to, you have to jump over a stream, climb over rocks for about 15 mins then another 10 minute walk through the bush until you reach the beach. Unfortunately our walking shoes are back in Adelaide (we packed for a wedding, and also practiced taking minimal luggage) the shoes would have helped. On the way over I fell down on a slippery rock, then moments later bumped my head on an overhanging branch ? Greg made it unscathed ?
Anyhow, I digress. The stream we had to jump over was too wide. We watched some European back packers attempt it. Two of them made it over using rocks and a branch that were in the stream. The branch wasn’t very stable so one of them found another wider log and threw that into the stream. That made it easier, one jump onto the log another jump onto a rock then over to the other side. We all made it over without falling in.
We were aware the tide was coming in, so we headed off over sand, then a good 15 minutes ambling over rocks, then through the bush until we made it to the most beautiful, long, sandy beach in a gorgeous bay where the green hills met the beach. There were only two other people on the beach and they soon left. We had it to ourselves. Was a special place, made all the better by the journey we took to get there. We got some photos and soaked it up, glad we made it.
Lots of rocks to walk over
New Chum beach
We headed back, keen to cross the stream before it got deeper. I managed to fall over again on the rocks, this one hurt more ? but I was fine after a moment. When we got back to the stream the log we had used before had moved further down stream. I thought we would need to take off our shoes and walk across, but we used the other log and a rock and we made it ?? Much happiness. We really enjoyed the walk, was made all the better by having the beach to ourselves.
Stream jump
About 1.30pm we got into Coromandel. It is a pretty, quaint town. We checked trip advisor and chose Wharf Rd cafe for lunch. I had Turkish eggs, they were poached perfectly and in yoghurt. Have never had them before. They were delicious. Greg had spaghetti cooked with garlic, chilli, olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan. We both enjoyed lunch.
Afterwards we headed north along the coast up to Colville. The gorgeous views continued along the coast and inland. Colville was a surprise. 3 shops! One was closed. We had a look inside the general store. Think 50 years ago, in the country. We had a cuppa in the other shop and enjoyed the views.
We headed back to Whitianga around 4pm. Took an hour 10 mins, lots of windy roads on the Peninsula. We were going to have dinner at the Thai restaurant but it wasn’t open yet, so we went back to the pub for tea.
We were tired, but happy when we got back to our accomodation, should sleep well tonight.
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