The Coromandel Peninsula

The day opened dry, sunny and warm, with a forecast of hot sunny weather for the next few days.

We made an early start and drove North from Taupo heading for the beach resort of Whitianga on the Coromandel peninsular. Not far into the journey, the traffic lightened to almost nothing and the road began to wind through mountains and gorges clothed in fern forests.

It was a stunning drive - the best that we had enjoyed in the North Island.

With a few stops along the way, our journey took four hours and around 11:30 we arrived in Whitianga.

Whitianga is a beautiful, beachfront town of about 3,000 inhabitants.

The weekend was a bank holiday (Friday was NZ’s national day) and the numbers swelled to 35,000 or so. Not that the place felt that busy.

Our Motel was right on the beach, with a balcony over looking Mercury bay. Our room was large, spotless and well very equipped. This motel was one of the best we have stayed in on this trip. We planed two nights here and to spend our time relaxing on the beach.

We decided to check out available restaurants and to book a table early, as it was a bank holiday Saturday. In the event, our first choice restaurant was already fully booked. So we settled for a curry.

That afternoon, we had a long walk along the beautiful, empty beach. Despite the number of visitors, the beach was deserted.

After a Guinness and a glass of Sav. in the local Irish bar, We had another epic curry. Our experience, based upon a sample of four meals, is that NZ is a real hot spot for Indian food.

Sunday, turned out to be a perfect day; great weather, a long walk on on empty beach, a great lunch, a boat trip along the coast to Cathedral cove…

and a fantastic dinner overlooking the yacht harbour.

While we were on the boat trip, the skipper picked up a rumour that one of the big deep water sport fishing boats had caught a huge Marlin. So, upon our return, we waited at the quay for the boat to arrive.

The boat eventually arrived at the Quay with the Marlin aboard.

The monster fish was winched off the boat and weighed in at 180.2kg…

We were chatting to a couple from Cornwall as the Marlin was hoisted aloft, and they commented that it was the biggest fish they had ever seen. This gave me the opportunity to slip into the conversation (loud enough for everyone else to hear) that this fish was smaller than the shark I caught last week…