Ronaldinho Rocks!
Coromandel Info
I have a friend who is interested in this area and has a few questions.....
What are the best villages/towns for actually living in with good access to shops, school etc? For instance, is it easy to purchase essentials or do you have to drive miles to buy a pair of socks?
Which are the best beaches for dog walking?
Are people in the Coromandel welcoming of outsiders? Does everybody already know everybody?
Cheers
Tia
Member
Originally Posted by Tia Maria
I live in the Coromandel --- in the largest town called Thames (it's about 9,000). It has The Warehouse, Pak n' Save, a small shopping mall, lots of little shops of all varieties, several different schools for different ages (sorry, I don't have kids yet), a good sized hospital, lots of churches and heaps of community clubs. We really like it here because of its proximity to all of the amazing Coromandel activities and the very friendly people. A lot of people know everyone, but I've met a lot of shop owners who have been here a few years and don't know everyone. I feel it's an easy place to live. Housing not that great, we lucked out with a brand new rental. There is a beautiful subdivision just outside of Thames with lovely new homes. Lots of walks to explore and enjoy, too!
I will say that the town has a lot of older historic homes which were once goldminers cabins. And they aren't the nicest or best kept up (some of them), so it makes the town not look as nice as it could be. But, generally, they are just older homes and it is to be expected. We really enjoy it here because it has everything we need and only an hour from Auckland. Lovely weather, too!
Senior Member
There are four main centres on the Coromandel: Thames, Coromandel, Whitianga, and Whangamata. I don't really know Whangamata very well, but here are my thoughts on the other places.
Whitianga
I might be a little biased, seeing as I live here, but Whitianga is fab! It's smaller than Thames (only 4000 people, but this swells to 20,000 in the summer), but is really well serviced considering its size. We have a high school here (there are only 4 high schools on the peninsula - the others are in Thames, Whangamata and Coromandel). There are a few really good restaurants and cafes here, and there is a good range of shops, including a really well-stocked supermarket. (Socks are a little hard to come by, though - I was looking for some the other week, and could find only ONE pair of socks in the whole town that weren't ankle socks!) We even have a cinema.
Whitianga is built along a 4 km long beach, and there are lots of beautiful beaches just a short drive away: Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove, Wharekaho, Otama and Opito Bay just to mention a few (in fact, I just posted a thread about beaches near me).
On the downside, housing is quite expensive (prices have been pushed up by all those Aucklanders buying holiday homes), plus other goods are quite expensive compared to other parts of New Zealand (seaside tax), and there aren't that many employment opportunities - if I didn't work from home, we'd never have been able to live here. It also feels very remote - Thames is the nearest big town, and that's over an hour away, and the drive there is quite, ummm, challenging (lots of hair-pin bends with sheer drops at the side). The nearest hospital is in Thames, though there is an air ambulance for emergencies. I don't know how pregnant women here cope as they have to travel to either Thames or Hamilton if they want to/ have to give birth in hospital - apparently lots of pregnant women go and stay with friends in those places in the final weeks of their pregnancies - presumably to avoid accidentally giving birth at the side of the road on the long journey to the hospital!
Thames
I reckon Thames feels less remote than most of the other places in the Coromandel as it is only an hour from Auckland, and the rest of the Coromandel is easily accessible from it. It's the biggest town on the Coromandel, and has got the best range of shops. It has the peninsula's only hospital, and has a high school as well. On the downside, I don't think the setting of it is as pretty as some of the other towns on the Coromandel, and its beaches are not nearly as nice as those on the east coast. It probably has the best employment opportunities, though, given its size.
Coromandel
Coromandel's a lovely little town. It doesn't have a good a range of shops as Whitianga or Thames, and its beaches aren't as good as Whitianga's. Hmmm, I don't really know much more about Coromandel!
Dog-walking
There are a few dog beaches on the Coromandel, i.e. beaches where you can exercise dogs off lead but under control all year round at any time of the day. At many of the beaches, though, dogs are banned from the beaches between 9 am and 7 pm from December 15th to February 8th (those dates might change from year to year), and between 9 am and 4 pm on holiday weekends. There's a full list of the dog restrictions here.
Future development
There is a blueprint being developed for the future development of the Coromandel peninsula, which is well worth a read for anyone considering moving here (and anyone who already lives here, of course). Details here.
Ronaldinho Rocks!
Thanks Globetrecker and Jo Jo - really useful answers!!
Rep coming your way....
Cheers
Tia
Ronaldinho Rocks!
Great photos of the coromandel too JoJo:
http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25597
Cheers
Tia
Always Right
Wow, so helpful Jo Jo
Yorkshire Ambassador to New Zealand
We loved the Coromandel when we were there on holiday, really very very jealous of JoJo for her place in Whitianga. Absolutely lovely place and she's not even mentioned Nina's cafe which is reason enough to move accross the world. The one picture we blew up and turned into a canvas on our return was of Hahei beach.
Not an option for us because of work, but would be great to get back there. We were there twice on our trip, once at the start, and then 5 weeks later on easter weekend. Was very very different the second time with what seemed like half of Aukland moving to the otherside of the bay.
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