Coromandel Peninsula

We awoke to sunshine but with a forecast of a cloudy day. We expected a slow drive along the coast but were hopeful of some beautiful scenery.

The west side of the peninsula is beautiful. We were driving right along the coast, most of the way to Coromandel.

We also saw some amazing trees along the west coast. We saw some large, ancient pōhutukawa trees, which are a native New Zealand coastal tree, also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. This is because they bear vibrant red, bristly flowers around December. The trees are also culturally significant to the Māori who consider them to be “chiefly” trees. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, descended from East Polynesian settlers who arrived in large ocean canoes centuries ago.

Despite driving the coast, at times the road veered inland and we started to climb, providing some beautiful views.

We also saw some more interesting landscapes – terracing on slopes. General perception is they are caused by animal grazing.

We stopped for lunch along the beach. Despite it being the weekend, there weren’t a lot of people at the beach. It was very windy!

We’ve seen these tall white and blue flowers for days but I finally had a chance to get a close up of them. They’re beautiful!

Driving the west side, we were inland much more of the trip. It was a full day but we really enjoyed the drive. We spent the night at Tauranga in another small motel, so we would have a short drive on Sunday to our next destination!