Coromandel and East Coast

We have just got back from two weeks holiday in the north east of the country. We stayed the first week at Hahei in the Coromandel with our friends Dave and Jane, their son George and another friend, Denise.

Jane, George, Noreen and Dave having lunch on our arrival
and Denise bringing the tea.

The Coromandel Peninsular is blessed with a moderate climate, beautiful sandy beaches,

spectacular scenery,

wildlife (this is a kereru),

and interesting natural attractions (Cathedral Cove).

We swam (or paddled – we are all English after all!),

climbed trees

and hugged them (kauri).

The East Coast (from Opotiki to Gisborne) has wide bays but not so sandy on the north coast (Hicks Bay)

until you get to East Cape, the most easterly point on the mainland of New Zealand.

South of East Cape the coastline is dominated by sandy bays between impressive headlands (Tolaga Bay).

This is the area in which Captain James Cook first made landfall and there are several commemorative stones and statues including this one at Gisborne.

There is also one to Nicholas Young,

the cabin boy credited with first sighting land.
He is immortalised in the name of the feature he spied – Young Nick’s Head.

Then all too soon we were home.

I took about 700 shots on the journey and will put up some of the more interesting ones in future posts. Keep watching!