Tairua



Tuesday 5th March 2013

The flight over and entry into NZ was uneventful - no-one needed to check out the kayaks, so we arrived in time for dinner at the hotel. Next day we drove to the Coromandel Peninsula - first stop was the west coast where we visited the Rapaura Gardens and had lunch at the Tastes of Koru Cafe. The Coromandel is renowned for its mussels so that's my food mission for this part of the trip!

 

Greenlip mussels at Koru Cafe at Rapaura Gardens

 

After lunch we continued on to Tairua - to Paku Lodge Motel. The motel is on the base of Mt Paku, looking out over Tairua Harbour, just in from the mouth of the inlet. The tide flows in & out of this quite fast, with a tidal range of nearly 2m. Lovely green water at high tide and wide sand flats at low water. The water is cool but not much colder than Port Phillip Bay!

 

 

The view from the balcony!

Monday was a pretty lazy day and we were going to get out on the water today, but it was pretty we & windy this morning so we went for a drive and checked out some areas that would be good for a paddle. The water at Hot Water Beach was thumping in! The local kayak operator at Hahei was packing up & going home. We had lunch (chevre platter) at Mercury Bay winery and a giant coffee at Hot Waves Cafe. The weather should clear tomorrow though the local cafes are tyalking about breaking out their winter menues!

The beach at Hahei - looks like a sheltered spot to launch but perhaps not today! This bit is flat as it is protected by an island but the water is a bit wild out of the lee.