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Home , Cooks Beach, Hauraki Gulf, Matatoki, Opoutere, Tairua, Whenuakite

Your Trail Guide 1 TheCoromandel KARANGAHAKE GORGE - 1 Bistro at The Falls Retreat, r Luke’s Kitchen, 25 Waitawheta Rd Waikino 20 Blackjack Rd Kuaotunu Village www.fallsretreat.co.nz www.lukeskitchen.co.nz 2 Ohinemuri Winery, t Salt Restaurant, 23 Moresby St Karangahake S37 1 Blacksmith Lane Whitianga www.ohinemuri.co.nz www.salt-whitianga.co.nz THAMES y Wilderland Shop, SH25 Whitianga- 3 Cheese Barn, www.wilderland.org.nz Wainui Rd Matatoki www.thecheesebarn.co.nz u Mercury Bay Estate, 761A Purangi Rd 4 Grahamstown Bar and Diner ‘the GBD’, 700 Pollen St Thames i Cathedral Cove Macadamias, www.thejunction.net.nz 335 Lees Rd www.cathedralcovemacadamias.co.nz 5 The Depot, 713 Pollen St Thames www.cafemelbourne.co.nz o The Coromandel Brewery, 7 Grange Rd Hahei 6 Thames Organic Co-op www.coromandelbrewingcompany.co.nz 736 Pollen St Thames p Hot Waves Café, THAMES COAST 8 Pye Pl 7 Koru at Rapaura a 586 Tapu- Rd Hot Water Brewing Co, www.rapaurawatergardens.co.nz 1043 SH25 www.hotwaterbrewingco.com 8 Waioumu Beach Café, s 622A Thames Coast Rd Colenso Country Café & Shop, 895 SH25 Whenuakite COROMANDEL TAIRUA- 9 Coromandel Oyster Company, d 1611 Tiki Rd The Old Mill, 1 The Esplanade, Tairua q Coromandel Mussel Kitchen www.theoldmillcafetairua.com & MK Brewing Co, f cnr SH25 & The 309 Rd Miha Restaurant at Puka Park, www.musselkitchen.co.nz 48 Mount Ave, Pauanui www.pukapark.co.nz w Pepper Tree Restaurant and Bar, 31 Kapanga Rd www.peppertreerestaurant.co.nz g Cafe 646, e Star and Garter, 5 Kapanga Rd 646 Port Rd Whangamata www.starandgarter.co.nz www.sixfortysix.co.nz 2 A SMALL SELECTION OF PLACES TO VISIT e w q 9 r tu i y o p a 7 s 8 d f 456 KEY Restaurant 3 or café g Winery or Brewery

Pub or Bar

Boutique 2 1 or Specialty Food

3 Start your Tour MOUNTAINOUS CONSERVATION LAND reaches from the spine of the Coromandel to fertile terraces at the sea’s edge and beyond. It is these landscapes that have fed generations of gardeners, gatherers, bushmen and campers since the earliest of settlement times in . The Coromandel was once isolated from a ready supply of hardware and supermarket goods, and

4 our smaller communities continue to innovate, grow and share organic produce amongst each other year-round. For bach owners, locals and visitors alike, the Coromandel offers the bounty of the sea, the forest and the neighbour’s feijoa trees over a leisurely catch-up while the smoker is fired up. As a visitor or a local, what better way to truly taste the Coromandel than a tour of the mussel farmers, organic growers and artisan producers serving home grown local produce through world class chefs…

View of Paku and Ocean Beach, Tairua with Pauanui beyond. 5 from small Batches to small Baches THE FORMER GOLD MINING TOWN of Thames is a pantry of artisan products, and a perfect place for stocking the picnic hamper for the bach or your drive up the Thames Coast Road to Coromandel Town. Niche shops and small producers sell cheeses and yoghurts, homemade Scottish oat cakes, locally-grown organic produce, spice blends and coffee at cafés from Grahamstown at the northern end of town to Matatoki in the south. As the starting point for the , cyclists refuel at The Cheese Barn at

6 Matatoki where cheesemaker Kelvin Haigh and wife Cathy have created a character-filled café in which to meet the cheesemaker and sample organic blue, mozzarella, camembert and traditional Dutch gouda. Matatoki is a 10 minute drive from Thames. www.thecheesebarn.co.nz While in Thames, The Depot in Grahamstown stocks a range of artisan curry powders and freshly made spice blends at Savour & Spice. Cross the road to the Thames Organic Co-op for fresh and preserved organics and honey, delivered from small farms and mountain stream-fed bush blocks throughout the Coromandel. To taste artisan local coffee, Coffee Lala is sold throughout the Coromandel and beyond.

7 Harvest the Love AQUACULTURE FARMERS in the produce one quarter of New Zealand’s mussels and oysters for local consumption and for export and these morsels are never fresher than when they are eaten locally. The Coromandel Oyster Co. serves meals on- site or in packages best eaten minutes later at a nearby beach. Fresh Coromandel Pacific Oysters are available from the farm gate, where you can buy oyster meat, 1/2 shell or whole-shell at farm gate prices. The company’s

8 retail outlet also stocks seafood harvested locally and served either cooked or fresh, including premium Greenlip Mussels, Kina, Paua, Crayfish, mussel chowder and paua and mussel fritters. They also courier anywhere in New Zealand to help with your event or celebrations. At the Coromandel Mussel Kitchen and MK Brewing Co in Coromandel Town, all the ingredients served to customers are gathered from the surrounding land and sea before being opened by hand, steamed in specially built ovens or smoked over a Manuka fire. The Peppertree in Coromandel Town is another option infusing local flavours into juicy local mussels and oysters.

9 Meetings round the Barbecue JUST AS SYNONYMOUS WITH CAMPING holidays, beaches and baches is the barbecue – and the Coromandel has its share of butchers offering special cuts and marinades using all-local ingredients. At the Coromandel Meatkeeper in Coromandel Town you will find traditional smoked bacon, freerange eggs and steaks on the bone for a hearty breakfast after early starts on the sea. At Tairua Butchery and Meat at the Beach in Whangamata, shop for special cuts and gourmet marinades, macadamia oil, freerange eggs and matatoki pork to get the barbecue sizzling. Enjoy with a can of award-winning IPA (Indian Pale Ale) collected from Hot Water Brewing Co in Whenuakite, or stop for a while here to taste all the varieties and have a chat with

10 ‘ Remember God created beer because he wants us to be happy’ The Pour House

brewer Dave Kurth. A holiday park is handily located next door where The Rising Can Festival is held in November, celebrating canned craft beer in New Zealand. Visit www.hotwaterbrewingco.com for info. The Pour House brewery and restaurant in Hahei is just 20 minutes’ drive away and within walking distance of Hahei beach. It is a perfect place to enjoy woodfired pizza with the Coromandel Brewing Co. craft beer brewed onsite by owner Neil Vowles. Neil started out as a passionate home brewer before establishing the Coromandel Brewing Co. beer brand and recently opening The Pour House restaurant to serve it fresh and tasty, straight from the brewery. Their beer is brewed with all grain recipes and lots of the best New Zealand hops. www.coromandelbrewingcompany.co.nz 11 Backto the Land ON A PENINSULA AT THE EDGE of the upper estuary in Whitianga, Wilderland was founded by organic pioneer Dan Hansen and wife Edith so that people of all nationalities could work side by side in harmony with nature. It was 1964, and like residents in those early days, the self-reliant and peaceful community at Wilderland continues its quest to tread lightly on the land by reusing resources in practical and inventive ways. Wilderland is a charitable

12 educational trust and a living part of the Coromandel heritage. Daily life revolves around the production of organic food by residents and volunteers at the rambling farm. Garden beds and big old trees planted half a century ago among the 64ha of regenerating native bush produce apples and pears, citrus, greens, vegetables, honey and herbs to feed volunteers and families working to provide Wilderland’s educational service. The surplus is picked and sold in season or turned into dried goods, relishes, chutneys and ointments at the Wilderland roadside shop. Everything is certified organic. Experience Wilderland’s back-to-the-land philosophy on a workshop or tour – enquire at www.wilderland.org.nz – and to taste the bounty visit local markets, organic stores, or the Wilderland roadside shop on SH25 between Whitianga and Tairua.

13 Match made in Seafood Heaven

UNITING THE PLEASURE OF GOOD FOOD with a commitment to the community and environment are what led Sue and Brian Pilkington to one of the finest marriages in seafood history. Owners of Cathedral Cove Macadamias in rural Hahei, Brian, Sue and their family are the creators of the sellout macadamia crumbed scallops at the Whitianga Scallop Festival; their crowd-pleasing organic creation even known to have drawn applause in the street from festival-going fans. The foodie couple were invited to join the scallop festival in its first year, and, consulting with peers in the Slow Food Movement,

14 devised a spiced crumb blend on each scallop that was an instant hit. Sue, a former home economics school teacher, and Brian ‘bean counter turned nut counter’ host visitors from 10am – 3pm 7 days a week on their 6.7ha sun-drenched organic orchard on Lees Rd. They sell a range of delectable take-home oils and creations like macadamia crumb, muesli, dukkah or choc-dipped macadamias from a food caravan. Join the native kereru birds as you tour the organic orchard with the growers, and visit www.cathedralcovemacadamias.co.nz for inspired recipes like lemon aioli with macadamia oil or cauliflower rice with macadamia dukkah.

15 BushBees The bees that get to call Coromandel hives as their homes are surrounded by untouched native flora and fauna. It is no surprise that our locally grown honey and Manuka oil products are sought after worldwide for their therapeutic properties and taste. The 309 Rd honey brand is harvested from bush clad hills with due care and attention to the bees and the environment that produces it. Meet the Coromandel’s beekeepers at markets, or at their small shops in villages or quiet country roads. At The 309 Rd you can buy the product then experience the bush at walks through conservation land. Stop at the Wilderland shop off SH25 for honey that has been perfected for over 40 years. If it’s healing you’re after, look for a UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) rating of 10 or more to ensure the potency of manuka honey. In rural Whitianga, The New Zealand Coromandel Mountains Tea Tree Oil Company harvests all its trees by hand. Find their oils and soaps at markets and local shops. 16 Succulent Scallops Just a little off the beaten track from to Whangamata is Beach and estuary, an ecological sanctuary with a whitesand beach that is accessed only by walking through forest. Gather your picnic and laze here. Ohui Vineyard is a local boutique vineyard by the sea using only certified sustainable and organic

17 processes, and can be purchased online at www.ohuivineyard.co.nz From the generation of first people to arrive in New Zealand, these white sand shores were a place to process shellfish. People filled their kete from the abundance of tua tua, cockles, pipis, scallops and mussels and steamed them over fires before stringing the meat onto rushes for storage. Scallops and kina is gathered from the east Coromandel coastline when sea conditions allow divers to enter. Whangamata Scallops know this delicacy like nobody else - processing 40 tonnes of scallop meat a year to provide more scallops than anyone else in New Zealand. Endless mouth-watering dishes are devised at the Whitianga Scallop Festival every September with 60 cuisine stands, entertainment and seafood cooking demonstrations. See www.scallopfestival.co.nz for details. 18 Markets

Tairua Market Tairua Hall, Main Rd, First Saturday morning Tairua each month Kuaotunu Market Kuaotunu Township Saturday morning from Labour weekend-Easter Craft Matarangi village Sundays from December Market shops to January & holiday weekends Whitianga Art, Craft Soldiers Memorial Saturday mornings on & Farmers Market Park Whitianga holiday weekends and community events Tairua Fireman’s Tairua Fire Station, Saturday morning of Market Main Rd Labour Weekend Coroglen Farmers Gumtown Hall, Sunday morning Labour Market Coroglen Weekend-Easter A Taste of Village Green, Annual event around Matarangi Matarangi April Thames Market Pollen Street Saturday mornings Grahamstown Thames 8am - 12noon Coromandel Market 31 Kapanga Rd Fridays 8am - 12noon Coromandel Town Coro Flavours at Pauanui Waterways Annual event in the Quay November Pauanui Wine Trail Pauanui Waterways Annual event in November Whangamata Lions RSA Carpark Anniversary Weekend, Market Easter & Labour Wknd Whangamata Liquor Land Carpark 8am - 1pm Saturdays in Community Market summer months www.thecoromandel.com for updated listings 19 www.tcdc.govt.nz

20 www.thecoromandel.com