Coromandel Pennisula, NZ: A Photo Album

The road on the west side of the peninsula is flat and hugs the shore.

But to cross over to the east side requires climbing several steep, curvy, quad-busting hills.  We can't say we weren't warned -- the fisherman we talked to at Tapapakanga told us to look across the Firth of Thames at night to see the lights of the cars winding up the grades.

The grade heading east out of Coromandel Town was the third and steepest, but offered spectacular views all around.

Any land not under reserve is occupied by bovines or sheep.

The east side of the peninsula has white sandy beaches, azure waters, and plenty of tourists on the Labour Day weekend that we were there.

Cathedral Cove is a beautiful little beach.  The sunbathers are oblivious to the welded tuff above them.

Cathedral Cove has a waterfall, too.  I am not sure if the people who rinsed themselves under the flow realized that it drains from the pasture lands above.

How to steam a Kiwi -- dig a hole at low tide on Hot Water Beach and sit 'em in it.

A good way to poach a Yank, too.

Our first walk through a kauri tree forest.

We rode a stretch of the old railway bed along the Ohinemuri River through the Karangahake Gorge.

The rail bed passed through a 1 km tunnel, intermittently lit by lamps.  It was a bit difficult to see initially, until I realized I had my sunglasses on.  After exiting the tunnel, we had a short downhill and the Coromandel Peninsula was behind us.