New Zealand blog: blissed out on the Coromandel Peninsula
Saturday, 01 Mar, 2011
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Travelmole’s Graham McKenzie stumbles upon cute Kaituna:
Having been north of the North Island to Dargaville and had a coffee with an old UK mate from ASB Law, Emma Smith it was time to head south.
When you go south you have to go back through the Auckland region but we decided not to stay in town. We chose quite randomly the Waitakere Estate Boutique Hotel and what a wise choice it was.
Set into the hillside of 70 acres of rain forest national park, it gives absolutely stunning views. In room number one (what else!) you get double aspect outlooks across the forest and to downtown Auckland which is only 30 minutes away by car. A gin avec Schweppes on the balcony prior to dinner is just the job.
If you want somewhere to go on your last night or indeed first night in New Zealand it’s not a bad choice and will allow you to chill completely before your tour around the country or before you get on a flight.
It’s not normally in my brief to recommend any one specific hotel but in this case I will. You can also add to the setting the very swift access to Piha beach, the capital of Kiwi surf, some 3 kilometres away.
That was the first night but what about the weekend? Surely the beach beckoned but perhaps not rough and tumble surf. The Coromandel Peninsula was the place to go and again quite randomly we chose a small village called Kuaotunu and the Otama beach hideaway.
Some greater power was looking after us as this had it all. A small apartment with BBQ and its own deck, set into the hillside some 400 yards from the beach. How to describe the beach and the area?
Well think of the very best piece of downland countryside with associated hills and vales, add into this a 2 mile by 50 yard piece of white sand, top with another 50 yards of dune and mix in some tropical vegetation. Leave it to stand for ten minutes then fold in a deep blue sea with enough froth to make it interesting and as a final topping add some interesting sea birds. Cook in a 26c temperature, with a soft breeze, and leave for as long as you like.
All I needed was for Claudia Schiffer to pop up out of the waves and say ‘Hey Mac, fancy a boozy lunch?’ and I just know I would have been on Candid Camera.
‘a lucky bugger’
The village itself was also a masterpiece. The local butcher and restaurant let us have products with a pay us later credit deal (ran out of cash), the fire station doubled up as the local bar and if you wanted your haircut you went into a rusty caravan.
Now I think I have been blessed with astounding good fortune but the reality is that there are probably hundreds if not thousands of places like this around New Zealand just waiting for some lucky bugger to visit.
Ps Oh ….I forgot to mention, we went swimming in some hot mineral pools on the travel between Paradise A and Paradise B .
To learn more about New Zealand and be certified for your knowledge, you can take Tourism New Zealand’s online training modules by clicking here
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Dinah
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