Rosie and The Operator drove on in silence, the atmosphere in the cab was icy even though the day was getting hotter and hotter. By the time we rolled into Waihi a couple of hours later than planned the day was
not any getting better…..we turned into the main street and intended to head straight to the mine for a tour…we missed the last one for the day by 15 mins. It wasn’t for the lack of being able to find the mine…it is in the main street. Martha’s Mine is NZs richest mine, they have been dragging gold and silver out of the ground here since 1878. The town grew up around the mine and after closing the doors in 1952 it was re opened in 1988 in its current open cast format. The mine is still productive, but only just, it takes a tonne of rock to yield 3-6g gold. It is expected to run out soon and a major top secret tourist attraction will spring up, or out, of this gaping hole…watch this space…no one really knows Rosie reckons. The tourist information centre is top notch, kind of sponsored and built by the mine owners, it has an excellent history of the mine complete with old photos, gold streaked rock and mining machines, all depicting how generous the company is to the (indebted) town. The staff are the best I have encountered as well, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and friendly I am sure they said they were all volunteers. As we drove
into Waihi Rosie expected to see a big huge gaping hole in the landscape with a town built around it….not so, the mine is cleverly disguised. The edge of the mine is built up higher than town level…its like you have to climb a hill and when you are at the top, oh, look, a big huge mine hole in the ground. This means that the town retains its small town feeling and is pleasing on the eye to boot. Opposite the visitor centre is the remains of the Cornish Pumphouse which was built in 1904 to house the pump that pumped the water out of the mine. It was moved into is current position during a restoration programme and is now a centre piece of the town and eerily light at night. From here you are on the lip of the mine and there is a rim walkway come jogging track that circumnavigates the 250 metre deep pit. The sun was beating down, scorching and unrelenting, Rosie is glad we missed the mine tour, it would have been like entering the bowls of hell in that hole I am sure.
Rosie and The Operator wander the main street, it is pretty quiet, and get a few supplies for the final leg of the journey. Then we head out of town to Waihi Beach which is 11 km down the road. Rosie wasn’t too impressed with Waihi Beach, it seemed a little run down, but the sandy beach is beautiful and it stretches for a further 9km ending in Bowentown, this is where we were heading. We arrived at The Bowentown Holiday Park which commands a stunning stretch of Beach with a built in boardwalk to keep the pesky sand out of your shoes if you are wanting a beach experience….without the sand. http://www.bowentown.co.nz/ This camp is the most beautiful, well kept and clean one I have ever been too! It is well impressive, we stopped at the office and just nabbed the last sea view powered site. Rosie felt a little guilty….she only got this site cause the foreign tourists with the other check in girl were having a little trouble with their English…
We parked and started soaking up the sun, The Operator had insisted we buy a fan, just in case it got too hot on our journey ‘up north’, tonight may be the night we busted it out for the first time.
The day was so beautiful that Rosie even though about shaking out her togs again for a dip in the ocean…then again her memory is not that short…note to self…you hate the ocean Rosie. Just around the corner in the distance you can see Tauranga, The Operator reckons that he could see the wreck of the Rena impaled on the Astrolabe Reef… just… in the distance. The Operator went for a ride on his mountain bike, he rode a couple of kms down the road and got a flat tyre….while pushing his bike back to the camp he ripped his toenail off when the pedal hit his foot…I told you today was the worst ever….The Operator came mumbling back into camp and went to soothe his wounds, mental and physical in the warm sea water. It was too hot to sit in one place, Rosie went for a walk , a very slow one, around
the campground. The kitchen, toilet and shower blocks are pristine, the grounds are well manicured, the staff are friendly and, well, perfect and smiley. There is a beautiful BBQ area and an area for fisherman to fillet their fish in a place nicer than my kitchen at home. The cabins are new Lockwood style and as the camp is well laid out nothing is too far away. This camp as I have said, and, deserves to be said again, is the best I have ever stayed at. After dinner the sun set, the full moon came out and the evening cooled down nicely, the fan was not needed in the camper and The Operator, after a
couple of beers was back to his old self again. We put the day behind us, sat on the sand and basked in the midnight moon.
The Coromandel is one beautiful part of the country, I am so pleased we took the time to explore its charms, we will certainly go back again.
