Hello from Auckland! While we’ve been fortunate to go on several amazing international trips this year – Ireland, Spain, Canada – I think this one has been the best yet. This is by far the longest trip I’ve taken, except for my study abroad in college, and we’ve really had the opportunity to explore the area. Plus, we got a great deal on the tickets. 😉
For the first part of our trip, we were staying on the Coromandel Peninsula. Tyler braved the other side of the road (and the car) to drive us the ~2.5 hours to this coastal getaway. Here’s how we spent our four days there…
Day 1: Drive to Hahei
We lost a day in transit, since we left in the evening on Thursday and arrived in Auckland on Saturday morning. Side note: there are strict rules about what can be brought in, due to concerns over the island’s biodiversity, so make sure you’re set for border control! After clearing that, we went to pick up our rental car from Europcar. They had really competitive prices and were easy to work with, I would recommend using them. We had a Kia Stonic, which is a compact SUV, and after dropping my in-laws at the ferry terminal in Auckland, we hit the road.
On our way, we stopped at Fish Faze for lunch, due to its excellent reviews. We got the daily special, which hit the spot, and then we tackled the windy mountain roads. These roads are NO JOKE with their twists and turns, especially when you’re already getting used to other traffic changes. My biggest recommendation would be to go slow and use the “slow car” pull off spots so folks can pass you. We all felt a little queasy by the time we got to our Airbnb in Hahei, and we were ready to settle in.
Fortunately, our Airbnb was a dream, and our host was super sweet. Tyler ran out to grab a couple groceries from the Hahei General Store, and we made dinner at the house before calling it a relatively early evening. The 18-hour time difference will get you!
Day 2: Visit Whitianga
Our host shared that the closest large grocery store was ~30 minutes away, so we got up early and headed out to Whitianga. We ended up finding parking right by Simpsons Beach, so we explored that area a bit, including their stellar waterfront playground. We then made our way to The Espy Cafe for brunch. It was quite popular, and we could see why. Tyler grabbed a coffee to-go from the nearby Harbour House Cafe before we reversed our path and went back to the car.
A quick drive from there, we discovered all there is to love about Countdown, a New Zealand-based grocery store chain. They are incredibly kid-friendly, with free fruit for kids as well as packs of “bricks” with purchase, so it made the experience that much better for the three of us. We loaded up on groceries, and headed back to the Airbnb.
We decided our evening would be best spent scoping out Hahei Beach, just a four minute drive for us. The weather was gorgeous – not a given, as we’ve learned during this trip! – and while the beach walk was flooded from recent rain, we still had a great time exploring. This beach isn’t as famous as many others on the Coromandel Peninsula, but it’s definitely worth a visit.
Day 3: Trek to Cathedral Cove
On the other end of the spectrum, Cathedral Cove is arguably the most famous beach on the peninsula, and we knew we needed to see it for ourselves. The only trick? It’s not accessible by car. We evaluated a few options, but since we were bringing the little guy along, we knew we needed it to be 1) stroller-friendly, and 2) not that long of a walk. After breakfast at the Little Blue Kitchen (their bagel sandwich was a favorite), we found almost exactly what we needed in the Cathedral Cove Carpark.
Note: the Cathedral Cove Carpark is not the “sanctioned” parking area for Cathedral Cove; it’s an alternative “shortcut” that will save you some serious time for the cost of only $10 NZD per vehicle at time of writing. From there we hopped on the Cathedral Cove Gateway Trail and walked ~30 minutes to get to Cathedral Cove. The path was great with the stroller until we hit the stairs right before the beach, so we ended up leaving our stroller up there. We soaked in the beautiful views and found our stroller (and someone else’s) waiting for us on the return trip.
On our way home, we made a quick stop at Cathedral Cove Macadamias for macadamia nut ice cream, and then we spent our evening digging our own little hot tub at Hot Water Beach. You can only do this during low tide, and it gets crazy crowded, but we thought it was a fun activity to do. Our son definitely enjoyed the digging! For dinner, we went to the nearby Hot Water Brewing Company – get the dumplings – and wrapped up our evening nicely.
Day 4: Land at Cooks Beach
Unfortunately, our good weather luck did not hold, and it rained all day. Combined with the fact that Tyler had to get some work done, this ended up being a pretty low-key day for us. We made a quick breakfast run to the Little Blue Kitchen (there are not a lot of restaurant options in Hahei, especially in the morning), and then we decided to power through the poor weather, hopping over to Cooks Beach.
While we didn’t get to see Cooks Beach at its prime, I think this could be a great spot to explore further. After some exploration and quick play on the nearby Purangi Regional Reserve playground, we headed back to Hahei. We made a quick stop at the Hahei General Store and spent the rest of the day watching a movie and prepping for our departure.
On our way to Auckland from the Coromandel Peninsula the next morning, we had a terrific lunch at Ti Tree Cafe in Waihi, as well as a lovely stop at the Karangahake Gorge – I would have liked to spend more time there if we didn’t have to return our car! All in all, the peninsula proved it had a lot of natural beauty to offer, and Hahei gave us the perfect place to spend some time off the beaten path as we settled into life in New Zealand.
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