This was a detour from the Te Araroa, taking in the Coromandel Walkway, Cathedral Cove and the Pinnacles, rather than the official route south of Auckland. We had planned to walk all the way to Rotorua, but didn’t quite make it due to bad weather.04 Coromandel
This was a detour from the Te Araroa, taking in the Coromandel Walkway, Cathedral Cove and the Pinnacles, rather than the official route south of Auckland. We had planned to walk all the way to Rotorua, but didn’t quite make it due to bad weather.Heading North?
We’re making a detour! There’s apparently some great stuff to be seen, done and tasted over here in the Coromandel Peninsular. So we’ve decided to switch out a chunk of our south bound Te Araroa trek and pop over here instead :) 
Yep that’s right, we’re taking a sizable departure from the Te Araroa Trail and heading in the wrong direction, North! The Coromandel was one most recommended places to visit by friends we quizzed about New Zealand, so we didnt want to pass it by when it’s only a ferry ride away.
Not quite sure yet how it’s going to pan out yet or where and when we’ll meet back up with the trail again, but it will probably involve my parents driving us back to the trail at some point (they’re visiting us at Christmas). For the time being we’re going to head up the peninsula to the Coromandel Walkway at the very top and see what happens!
Voyage of (360) Discovery to Coromandel
Sleepy eyed we jumped on board the little 360 Discovery ferry to the Coromandel peninsula in the grey and drizzle. Spotted two guys with bikes and matching shirts who were cycling the length of New Zealand in aid of a polio charity.On our way to Corromandel Town, shame the weather wasn’t better for our cruise across the Hauraki Gulf.. Quick pitstop in the historic Star & Garter pub, to use their wifi of course ;) Then we picked up our ride to Fantail Bay, just north of Colville.Fantail Bay
There was a chance of an awesome sunset tonight, so after tea we pegged it down to the pebbles on the beach to try out some timelapse action.Beach wasn’t up to much (stoney) and sunset turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.. But the camp was nice and our neighbors even offered us a freshly caught Snapper in the morning! Wasn’t quite sure how we were going to carry, or cook for that matter, such a large fishy so we declined. When we found out the next camp had BBQ’s and wood for sale, we really regretted this decision..Sheep World
I suppose not so surprisingly there are a few sheep here in New Zealand ;) But as we came round the corner here I’ve never heard such a strange cacophony. And enormous field stuffed with sheep all “AAAaaaaaaahhhhh”-ing their heads off. High pitched, low pitched, squeaky, all kinds of sheep accents - a whole chorus of them. Oddly fascinating to listen to this super multi layered sheep soundscape! We got some on video so we can treat you to that later ;)
Port Jackson
We’ve been following the Port Jackson Road from Fantail Bay to the DOC campsite here, it’s a fairly quiet gravel road. There’s actually a track we discovered from Port Jackson (with amazing views), not marked on the topo 50 maps, that follows the cliff edge avoiding half of the Fletcher Bay Road.
Views of Great Barrier Island
We’re in Cornwall again! Well almost. Pretty spectacular stuff eh? Glad we decided to veer off the official trail and investigate Coromandel peninsula. There’s some stunning views, and iconic rock formations to stop, look, shoot, and ponder over :)
Kept my eyes peeled over the edges into the deep blue for sharks and whales - nothing spotted yet. But who knows…
Out to sea in the distance is Great Barrier Island which lies just north of The Coromandel. This too was a much recommended New Zealand destination, but alas is a bit too far out of the way for us to take in this holiday.
By the way, this is the track between Port Jackson and Fletcher Bay I was talking about in the previous post.
Our Mate
I’m packing Marmite as a special luxury for this section. And it’s bloody amazing. So I’ve tried to pay tribute to it’s taste bud boggling qualities by shooting it a soft focus vignette portrait…
I’m picturing a piece of history here. When Marmite first came to these shores in the handbag of arrogant chef Captain Cook, he had no idea that the Maori had already invented it hundreds of years before. ‘Marmite’ in NZ comes in red cylindrical pots. So poor old Pomme Marmite is relegated to the name Our Mate… It’s just not cricket is it!
Sugarloaf & Lunch
We don’t normally cook at lunch. In general it’s cheese and crackers all the way. But today we had some square mountain wraps to test drive and a hot cheesy pasta filling tempted us! And a brilliant idea it was, especially with a bit of Marmite. I swear we could sell these… Bang some meths in a coke can and away you go.
Ps. That’s our stove can by the way - we’re not downing the meths yet ;)
Our destination today is the DOC campsite at Fletcher Bay, just in front of the big pointy bit of headland called Sugarloaf. Actually it’s quite a bit short of our original destination of stony bay, but after our hearty lunch I had a little afternoon snooze!
Cooking lunch on the cliff:
Coromandel Walkway
The weather was a bit poop for the start of the Coromandel Walkway, we started in grey drizzle, fully togged up in our waterproofs. After negotiating the carnage strewn throughout the campsite by a group of school kids staying there, we were on a our way and sweating profusely. The clouds were lifting and the weather was clearing up nicely.
This was a very easy day, only a 6 or 7 mile walk to the DOC campsite at Stony Bay. The wide track hugged the contours of the coastline with fantastic views at every corner. There’s a great lookout after Poley Bay that’s definitely worth the detour. There’s also another track higher up (the mountain bike track) to make a loop back to where you started.
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