Pacific Coast Highway road trip: Auckland to The Coromandel

Omana Regional Park is your first stop with its beach walks, campgrounds and picnic areas. Omana Regional Park’s panoramic views of the Firth of Thames, sweeping grassed spaces for families, beaches with rock pools and safe swimming areas. There are cool shaded bush walks which allow dogs on a lease to walk in prescribed areas.  The perimeter walk and farm walk are easy walking tracks. On your way again, from Omana Regional Park return to the main road and turn left.  In fifteen minutes you will reach your destination, Maraetai beach.

Maraetai beachfront has a large grassed area perfect for big family picnics and a game of beachball. There is a wooden boardwalk with seating encouraging visitors to relax, rest and people watch. And a wharf where water bombing is a summer rite of passage.

The marina has budding yachties practicing all their moves on the water with white sails, an impromptu photo moment. Throw down the beach towel and enjoy.

The drive along the winding cliff top road around the small picturesque bays is a summer delight. The drive to Umupuia (Duders) Regional Park is perhaps one of the most exquisite road trips in New Zealand. Imagine a short fifteen / twenty minute journey packed with sharp curves hugging the Firth of Thames seascape, fringed with enormous Pohutukawa trees gnarled and moulded by nature, wind and age as quintessential Kiwiana postcard trees, glimpses of people fishing from rocks and people supine on small coves. The light and shade reflects the shape and scent of a New Zealand summer. And all of this is encapsulated in a short regional drive from Maraetai beach to Umupuia (Duders) Regional Park.

Umupuia (Duders) Regional Park. This is signposted and there is parking available. It is a reasonable walk into the park, to the coves and beaches. Consider the Farm Loop through rolling pastures passing grazing sheep surrounded by incredible sea views stretching across to Waiheke and Ponui islands. This walk is 2 hours, 4.3km

Or you can consider “Duder Sustainable Trail 1.5 hour, 4km Learn how Duder Regional Park is walking the talk on sustainability.

The volunteers who staff the centre are passionate about the birds, the biodiversity as well as offer plenty of advice about the Hauraki Gulf. The various walks from the Shorebird Centre are well signposted with plenty of description about what is happening. The landscape has no dominant features. You spend time contemplating sand, sea, shells, water and sky with the seamless ribbon of flat expense before you. Look at the shades of white, cream with dashes of deep hues slashed with emerging water lights.

A compulsory detour for a snack, Top Notch Macadamias. Check beforehand if the shop is open and if you have 8 or more in your party book an orchard and factory tour. As the tour includes morning or afternoon tea it is a winner. Then for those who can’t make the tour there is the shop stocked with macadamia brittle, macadamia sweet and salty or packets of macadamia, dukkah and muesli made with macadamia of course. You’re on holiday, pack the hamper with treats for the road.

Blueberry Country fill your hamper to the brim with your own freshly picked blueberries. Pick your own is open from early December to late February, check individual orchards for specific dates at Pick Your Own Ngatea. This is a great family attraction with kids competing with parents to see who can eat the those, who can pick the those and then who can manage to fit a large blueberry ice cream into their tummy. The snack bar and pre-packed blueberries are an option for those who do not want to spend time picking fruit.

You have arrived at your destination for the night Thames.

Have you thought about stopping in the regional centre, Thames, and I don’t mean just visiting the public toilet? The town is not the prettiest in the Coromandal, it does not have numerous picturesque beaches on its doorstep or quirky railways circumnavigating a spectacular pottery creation yet it is worth a stop or even an overnight stay.

As a bird flies Coromandel is a glimmer across the Firth of Thames. The outline of hills, coast and bush is in contrast to the urban vibe of Auckland. The Coromandel is Auckland’s escape valve where baches and white sandy beaches offer rustic, quiet retreats. What to see and do ranges from chilling out on a beach or a luxurious lodge where pampering is the order of the day. The classic kiwi summer holiday spirit includes fishing, diving, hiking and cycling. Adrenaline adventure beckons with skydiving in Whitiangi or sea kayaking around the coast.

The longer route SH25 loops around the Coromandel Peninsula travelling to Coromandel Town on the east coast, cutting across the peninsula to Whitiangi on the west coast.

The route continues down the west coast towards Hikuai which is the junction for Whangamata and the journey to Tauranga. This is the official Pacific Coast Highway touring route.

141km (SH25A)

You will be returning on the same road from Whitiangi to Hikuai for the onward journey to Tauranga. The shorter route eliminates the east coast section and travels to Whitiangi on SH25A which is a direct route from Thames to Whitiangi.

Best Time of the Year

October – March

TIP

You have approximately 1 ¾  hours driving time. Pick and choose your stops and mark a tempting stop for next time.

For inspiration about what to do and where to go in the Coromandel check here: