Coromandel Cruise

Words & Photos: Cati Pearson

The trip research, as always for a 'Cati' adventure was thin on the ground. A last minute decision to tack a bikepacking loop around Te Tara-o-te-Ika-a-Māui/Coromandel Peninsula onto our New Year's trip to Whangamatā seemed like a lovely easy way to see in the NY by bike. A few friends had done it years ago and said it was cool. Day two had taken them over eight hours but I knew they had gone with a goon bag of wine, so attributed the long day to a hangover… oh how wrong I was.

Celebrating New Year like a real DINKWAD.

All smiles to start the trip… finally.

After celebrating the New Year in a paddock at the Wentworth Valley Campground, we said goodbye to our mates and pawned off the dog before heading into Coromandel for a supply stock up and lunch. We were still umming & ahing on whether to do the loop at 1pm as grey clouds loomed over the town, but f**k it we thought (finally) – we are adventurers, not fair weather riders.

We plodded off on our rigs packed with cheese & crackers, towards Colville. I had never been over this side of the peninsula before, and enjoyed the rolling tarseal and lovely farmland. We hooted & hollered down a sick descent dropping us at our refuelling spot where cokes were consumed, before we hit the gravel… and the headwind.

Enjoying the beautiful coastal road.

The gravel road out to our camp at Fletcher Bay was awesome. Graded perfectly and with minimal hills, for the most part. Lined with pōhutukawa it would have been stunning on a still day with plenty of swim spots. Unfortunately for us it was blowing a gale and holiday traffic had us single file for the majority of the ride. This didn’t burst our bubble though. We enjoyed snack breaks with beautiful views and lots of bird life. On our second snack break of the day Tyson placed his sunglasses down on the grass… and never picked them up again. If you ever do this loop please keep an eye out for men’s black sunnies next to a rock & pōhutukawa tree!

The last known location of the sunnies.

The final climb into Port Jackson was tough but we managed to slog it out and pull into a very full campground just before a bunch of 4WDs. We nabbed our spot and got quickly into putting up the tent so we could soak in as much afternoon sun on the beach as possible. Another unfortunate event for us; the tent pegs remained in Taupō – a wee way away from our campground with forecasted gale force winds & rain…

Some smart mechanicing of bike tools, tooth brushes and branches from a nearby tree sorted us out, mostly. And we pottered down (missing the majority of the sun) for cheese & crackers on the beach. Thank goodness the night was uneventful and our make do tent pegs remained ground-bound for the night.

Day two we awoke to another fine but bustly day. We packed up early and headed off for the Fletcher to Stony Bay section of the Coromandel Walkway (& mtb track). The nice bridle trail that meanders through beautiful bush was closed due to a slip, so we were forced to take the ridgeline. This horrendous push up the ridgeline of the farm took 90 minutes to summit. We met other cyclists half way up going in the other direction, who had walked up & down… not a good sign. However, when we finally made it to the top (and were rewarded with a stunning view of Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula) we found the descent into Stony Bay rideable and super fun! This down track was just another 4WD track, however the gradient was enough for super speed and a bit of fear on fully laden bike packing rigs.

Starting Day Two with another climb – typical of this loop!

We popped out at the stunning Stoney Bay for our first snack break, thankfully the wind had settled a bit and the day again was beautiful. The descent out of Stony Bay towards Port Charles was cut short by a flatty – thankfully on my rear wheel (as my front wheel may have had the thread stripped out of the axle). Time wasted fixing it, we then plodded on.

20 minutes down the road the heavens opened. We had just enough time to put on raincoats before all hell broke loose. We found an old bus stop way up the hill to shelter in and cook our dehy lunches, warming up and waiting the weather out. It was here we wondered whether it was worth boosting back to Colville and taking the tarseal back to the car, but after the rain stopped we agreed to proceed with the plan, despite now having finished all our food and water, and only being half way through the day.

Feasting like gods whilst sheltering
from the downpour.

Well deserved break.

Thank god the campground at Waikawau had a shop, and it was open!!! We rolled in and treated ourselves to cokes, ice creams, lollies and full camelbaks. We basked in the sun, once again enjoying our mission. But sadly the clock was ticking and eventually we peddled off. For anyone contemplating this loop, I would recommend doing it in three days and staying at the Waikawau Campground on night two. The white sand beach and night kiwi tours are too good to miss out on.

More hills and stunning coastal scenery and we made our way over our fourth & fifth saddles to Kennedy Bay. Our energy levels and mood dropping as we spied our final hurdle, the Kennedy Bay Road hill. The gradient was fine, and the gravel nice, however seven hours into the day and getting low again on food & water – we were over it. Treating ourselves to one lollie a corner, we wound our way through the native bush. We must have looked like two sad sacks as a lovely local in a ute stopped and offered us a ride to the top. Stupidly enough we turned him down and trudged on. 

The summit was grand! Beautiful sculptures, stunning views and most importantly 4km of descent back to the car! How bloody brilliant! 

We did it!

120 km and just under 3000 m of climbing done and dusted! Definitely burned off all the New Year's over consumption.