Colville or bust

We’ve kicked off the new year with a quick road trip. A few months ago, my brother Hamish and I decided to take our two motorhomes on a circuit of the Coromandel Peninsula. Hamish bought his vehicle about a year ago, while Garry and I have been renting one in New Zealand over the New Year period.

On Friday, our mini convoy departed Cook’s Beach and headed north along the peninsula’s east coast. We stopped in Whitianga for groceries and grog before making our way towards Kuaotunu for lunch. Along the way, we made several beach stops, including Buffalo Beach in Whitianga and Simpson Beach at the northern end of Mercury Bay. That’s Hamish and me at picturesque Simpson’s Beach below.

We stopped for a leisurely lunch at Luke’s Kitchen, a bustling cafe opposite the mouth of the Kuaotunu River. The venue was packed with a queue for tables stretching down the street. After lunch, we crossed over the peninsula via Whangapoua Beach and made our way up the coast to Colville. Hamish booked us into a “free-camping” site next to the Hereford ‘n’ a Pickle cafe on the edge of town.

The campsite was the perfect spot for our first night on the road. The cafe featured an outdoor toilet block that we were free to use overnight. This saved us from using our motorhome’s chemical toilet. The local farmer’s herd also joined us briefly for cocktail hour. 

After dinner, we walked to Colville Bay on the outskirts of town, about 950 metres each way. Technically, this was as far north as we could take our rented motor home without voiding its insurance. Looking out across the bay’s sheltered waters at dusk proved rather therapeutic.

I’ve always wanted to visit Colville. That’s another item ticked off my bucket list. It was a quiet little town with a quirky General Store, and the coastal road was also incredibly picturesque. Even better, despite the time of year, there was no road traffic - just silence - punctuated by the soothing sound of animals tearing into a paddock of lush grass. It was bliss.

The following day, we drove back down the coast to Coromandel township. Along the way, we stopped for a ride on the Driving Creek Railway. This was a popular tourist destination. I’d booked tickets weeks earlier. I’m glad I did, as there wasn’t a spare seat on the train. The round trip along three kilometres of narrow-gauge track took about an hour to complete.

The miniature railway is one man’s labour of love. It was constructed over several decades by a local potter called Barry Brickell. Initially, he built it to get quality potting clay from a hillside pit to his studio. Over time, the switchback track was extended up the hillside, across several gullies and through tunnels before reaching a hilltop bluff where a sturdy lookout tower delivers a stunning view over Coromandel and the surrounding harbour.

We drove out to Wyuna Bay for lunch before returning to Coromandel for a walk around town. It's a rather quaint - and a heck of a lot quieter than the day before. On our way to Colville, we passed through Coromandel in the throes of its annual Keltic Fair. I read later that this one-day event attracts more than 15,000 people.  I wouldn't fancy our chances of finding parking for two motorhomes!

We then continued down the coast to our next free-camping site at Kereta Bay. We stopped to check out the scenery at Te Kouma (see above), and again at the Manaia Road Saddle Lookout (see below). Much to my delight, the lookout gave a superb view of our campsite at Kereta.

Te Kouma was an interesting stop. We parked on Hannaford's Wharf and went for a walk along the headlands. Its sheltered harbour is a prominent area for green-lipped mussel farming. A string of shellfish rafts and a fleet of oddly shaped barges spanned the bay. Apparently, the mussel farms are popular fishing spots. They're targeted frequently for species like snapper.

Our campsite was managed by a local farmer. It was a surprisingly busy little spot offering more Instagram-worthy coastal scenery. Our cocktail hour was briefly interrupted by a few local visitors, that is, the farmer’s sheep and his daughter’s horse.

 

Our final day on the Coromandel was spent driving down the coast to Thames and on towards Karangahape Gorge. This stretch of coastal road proved the most scenic of our entire journey. The road hugs the coast, offering mile after mile of rugged, Pohutukawa-framed views. We stopped several times to admire the Hauraki Gulf in all its glory.

After a quick motorhome lunch in Thames, we took a detour to complete the Rail Tunnel Loop Walk on the outskirts of Karangahape. This 4.2 km walk includes a one-kilometre passage through an old brick-lined railway tunnel and a return circuit along the river. Although we walked an extra kilometre to and from the nearest motorhome-friendly carpark on a steep hillside by the river. 

Our final night in New Zealand was spent in a campground at Miranda Hot Springs. Here we enjoyed a relaxing soak in the campground’s recently refurbished hot pools before cooking up a storm on the BBQ. Our stay was perfectly timed as the hot pools only reopened two weeks ago. 

So that's it. I've finally completed a circuit of the Coromandel Peninsula and seen the tiny settlements of Colville and Coromandel with my own eyes. Loved it all. Despite the time of year, the region was crowd-free with plenty of epic coastal scenery. Another tick on the bucket list.

This morning, we packed up our gear, cleaned our motorhome and made our way back to the depot at Pokeno. Once again, Garry and I ran late, arriving more than 30 minutes after our drop-off time. However, once again, the staff proved very amiable, and our tardiness wasn’t an issue. Likewise, while we returned our motorhome with a full tank of fuel, we failed to refill the natural gas tanks as instructed. The staff weren’t the least bit concerned and ultimately didn’t bother to charge us a refill fee.

We’re now sitting in the lounge at Auckland Airport getting ready to fly direct to New York. This flight is one of my many bucket list experiences. I love that you fly direct to the Big Apple, avoiding a painful transit through Los Angeles or Dallas. The world gets smaller every day.