Travels and Birds: East Cape Drive - Coromandel to Tauranga

Poppies in Waihi to remember WWI on its 100th anniversary.
I remember doing this as a child
but I don't see poppies as a memorial anymore in the US

Dinner in Coromandel was at the Pepper Tree. Our hotel manager had told us it was the best in town. The folks at Driving Creek Railway went even further saying it was the only good restaurant in town. While others might have good food, this one was the only one providing a full dining experience along with excellent food. I had oysters, salad, and fish chowder. Linda had a pork shank with mashed potatoes. All we excellent and we had a nice bottle of local wine to add a bit more ambience to the evening. As expected it began to rain after dinner. We were glad we had brought the car even though it was only a five minute walk from the hotel.

Hawai - Rain all day long

Before actually leaving Coromandel, we drove out for a look at the bay and were rewarded with some good views of diving white-fronted terns catching fish in the mangroves along the shore. It’s been great to see all the mangroves along this coast. In so many places they have been removed to make room for development of housing or industry destroying the natural barrier they provide against storms. We are certainly paying the price for that today in hurricane-prone areas. Of course it helps here that there isn’t much pressure for developing these particular mangrove forests.

Hawai

It rained the rest of the day as we drove the 180 miles to our next stop in Tauranga. As is our norm, we did not take the fastest route so we could stay along the coast as much as possible. This added an hour or two, but we had the whole day anyway. Where the road doesn’t follow the coast line, it meanders up and down hills, so the driving isn’t very fast anywhere out here anyway.

Kuaotunu

We had a nice stop for brekki and lunch around noon at the Harbor View Cafe in Whitianga. Most of the towns along the coast here are based on fishing and tourism, so there were several cafes catering to the tourists and local fishermen. Many of these serve breakfast until the afternoon and then close around 2:00. Dinner will probably be found at a different restaurant that is open only for dinner. We found a table with a view before ordering from the counter. The clerk claimed they had a great decaf coffee which it turned out to be. Good decaf is a rarity. Linda solves that problem by drinking her own rooibos tea. Not many places carry this non-caffeinated South African tea so she brings her own bags and justs asks for hot water.

Hot Water Beach

We made another detour to check out Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. The road to Cathedral Cove was blocked so we missed that although the heavy rains meant it wouldn’t have been much of a view anyway and we certainly were not interested in the boat ride most people take to see it from the water. At Hot Water Beach, you can simply dig a hole in the sand to create your own soaking pool. It sounds like a lot of fun, but again the rain deterred us from that pleasure. We did see a couple of groups out there digging holes however. I guess we really aren’t that adventurous after all.

We made one more rainy stop in the town of Waihi (pronounced Why-hee) to see its gold mine. Literally, right next to the main street through town is New Zealand’s most productive gold mine. It opened in 1878 and operated steadily until 1952. It reopened in 1988 only to close again a couple of years ago when the north side slipped. They have stopped mining until they are sure it is safe again. It’s not terribly profitable any more so that may not happen. It is however open to viewing and the Gold Discovery Center across the street from the mine offers an interactive experience for $25. We passed on that, but I did walk up the short hill to get a view of the pit. It was raining hard so I passed on the opportunity to walk the 4 km trail around for more views. I was still soaked by the time I returned to the car. The pit is impressive. Trucks with 15’ tires would appear small at the bottom. I saw a similar mine in Ghana that was in operation and those trucks really did look like ants at the bottom. More tourist activities are in the planning stages for when the mine completely closes. After all, what do you do with an open pit literally in the center of town besides make an attraction out of it.