Whitianga and Coromandel
Arrived at Whitianga, my penultimate stop, yesterday afternoon. It’s a lovely little town on Mercury Bay, with a nice beach, quite a lot of water activities (fishing, boating, etc.), and some interesting costal rock formations.
One of them, Cathedral Cove, was recommended to me by one of my work colleagues, along with the person checking me in. I kind of wish I planned this better, for to see it you’d have to drive back south for 45 minutes, board a shuttle bus, and walk 40 minutes. If I planned this better, I could’ve done this before arriving at Whitianga. What I probably should have done is stay another day, which would’ve given me time to do this. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time when I arrived, and while I did plan to go today, it would’ve thrown my scheduled out. Something for next time perhaps.
What I did do, after settling in, was take the ferry across to Cooks Beach and do the walk around Shakespeare Lookout. I’m actually quite glad there was a ferry between Whitianga and Cooks Beach. The ferry ride was not long, about a few minutes, yet it saved 45 minutes of driving. I was reluctant to go at all, but the walk did the trick. It was lovely trekking on the beach and around the kauri trees. Not too difficult either, yet the views were spectacular. This was followed by dinner and simply enjoying the beach in the fading light.
Today was the day I had to return the car. And while I checked out early with the intention of seeing Cathedral Cove, I decided to skip it and head to Coromandel. This was purely a nostalgia visit, as it was our first stop when we were visiting New Zealand as a family a good 20 years ago. I wanted to see it again, mainly to refresh my memory as I remembered nothing of the town. I stopped for coffee, which is something I wish I did more on this trip: just stop, relax a bit, enjoy a coffee. While seeing stuff is nice, sometimes is good to remind yourself that you’re there on holiday to recharge, and for me at least, doing something like that is a nice way to do this. That said, I did get a walk in around Tucks Bay, to see more kauri trees, including one that is 1,200 years old.
The weather changed after leaving Coromandel for Auckland. When I stopped at Thames, the rain was pelting down and the wind was blowing up a storm. The drive back was a little challenging, but things improved when I was coming in to Auckland. I’m here for the next day, then I’ll fly back home. I’m actually staying in the same hotel I stayed in 12 years ago, when I was so sick I didn’t leave the hotel room. I had grand plans of visiting Coromandel back then (in hindsight, it would’ve been a bit of a stretch to visit for the day) and felt that the fates owed me a visit. Well, the fates can rest easy now, as I consider that debt repaid.
I’ll probably leave it here for these long form reports of this trip. It was a lovely time visiting Wellington and driving round the east coast. Hope to do it again. I here for one more day so I’ll need to think of something to do in Auckland, lest I repeat the same thing I did 12 years ago. Not entirely sure what that will be, but I’ll think of something.