Out on a limb
Sue Hoffart
Quite suddenly, with the help of a warm breeze wafting gently through Coromandel town, I am back in Asia. It is partly the lush foliage that does it, partly the taste of impeccably fresh fish and the hum of a small restaurant where everyone chooses to dine outside. In the end, though, it is the humid and slightly salty night air that transports me to earlier adventures on remote Indonesian islands.
A similarly unexpected encounter with the exotic occurs a day later, swimming off the small white arc of sand that is Hahei Beach. The islands just offshore and the clear, pale green water are just the way I remember the Greek Islands.
These are somewhat shocking revelations for someone who has always associated the Coromandel peninsula with pohutukawa-fringed coastline and picnics on pebbly beaches. Or drunken teenagers at beach pubs in Whitianga and Whangamata. Or dreadlocks and ‘No GM’ bumper stickers. Which just goes to show, it pays to leave preconceptions behind when you decide to eat your way around the Coromandel. Forget about cannabis cookies and seek out ostrich salami, organic plums, lime and pepper-smoked tarakihi, and hand-stretched mozzarella cheese.
This unspoilt part of the world is home not only to artists, hippies and healing centres, but also to an extraordinary number of foreigners – including plenty of chefs. Communes, co-operatives and lifestyle blocks mean an array of interesting produce – often organic – is sold from roadside stalls, weekend markets and stores in the small towns that dot the peninsula.
Heading north between Thames and Coromandel town you will share the narrow, winding highway north with overloaded cyclists who negotiate cliffs that drop down to tiny, uninhabited rocky coves. Bigger bays are populated by simple baches and boat-hauling tractors in varying states of decay. There are surfcasters planted beside plastic chairs, families in kayaks and kids leaping from roadside bridges. A woman sits in a shack in the middle of nowhere selling organic oranges, and a sign points the way to ‘Nowhere in Particular’.
Watch for hand-made signs that point to mussel and oyster farms. Local lore has it that, in season, you can buy three dozen oysters for $3 if you shuck them yourself. Given its remote location and small population, Coromandel town itself is remarkably well endowed with good eateries. Most establishments
feature seafood – mussel fritters, seafood chowders, fresh fish – at wonderfully reasonable prices, while several serve great coffee and one even serves bagels and bread couriered from Auckland’s Pandoro bakery. Choosing a restaurant or café here is really a matter of strolling the single retail street and scouring menus. It is also worth calling at the particularly good Coromandel information centre (ph: 07-866 8598, www.coromandeltown.co.nz).
The other side of the peninsula delivers white sandy beaches, housing developments, more people and something of a culture shock. The roads are busier and Whitianga is abuzz with boaties, backpackers and beach bums, city-priced restaurants, motels and hostels and surfie shops. Real estate prices are rocketing and people are fizzing with talk of the new canals development project.
While in the Mercury Bay area, pack a picnic and a snorkel and take the hilly coastal walking track to the scenic Cathedral Cove. Hot Water Beach is another must – grab a shovel and dig a private spa pool at low tide or fossick for mussels and try cooking them in the hot sand. Apparently it is also possible to cook an egg in the hot springs.
WINE TASTING
Mills Reef Coromandel
Former Aucklanders Alex Morcom and Bridget Reeves have returned to Alex’s family farm to create a vineyard with a view. The couple’s Shakespeare Cliff vineyard on a hillside overlooking Cooks Beach and surrounding islands is planted in an experimental range of grapes. But Alex and Bridget believe the Merlot, released in September (with Reserve Merlot due out ne 
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