Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Shopping
Pollen St has stores selling local art and craft.
Grahamstown Market
MAP
MARKET
GOOGLE MAP
(Pollen St; 8am-noon Sat)
On Saturday mornings the Grahamstown Market fills the street
with organic produce and handicrafts.
Information
Thames i-SITE
(
07-868 7284;
www.thamesinfo.co.nz
;
206 Pollen St;
9am-5pm)
Getting There & Around
InterCity
(
07-808 0748;
www.tairuabus.co.nz
)
and
Go Kiwi
(
0800 446 549;
www.go-kiwi.co.nz
)
all run bus services to Thames.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Thames to Coromandel Town
Narrow SH25 snakes along the coast past pretty little bays and rocky beaches. Sea birds are
plentiful, and you can fish, dig for shellfish and fossick for quartz, jasper and even gold-
bearing rocks. The landscape turns crimson when the pohutukawa (often referred to as the
'New Zealand Christmas tree') blooms in December.
A handful of stores, motels, B&Bs and camping grounds are scattered around the pictur-
esque bays. For backpackers,
Wolfie's Lair
( 07-868 2777; 11 Firth View Rd, Te Puru; d & tw $54)
, a
tidy house in
Te Puru
, has three rooms to rent. Just north of Te Puru, stop at the colourful
Waiomu Beach Cafe
(62 Thames Coast Rd, Waiomu Bay; mains $10-23;
7am-6pm)
for gourmet pizza,
freshly squeezed juices and healthy salads.
At
Tapu
turn inland for a mainly sealed 6km drive to the
Rapaura Water Gardens
( 07-868
4821;
www.rapaurawatergardens.co.nz
; 586 Tapu-Coroglen Rd; adult/child $15/6; 9am-5pm)
, combining wa-
ter, greenery and sculpture. There's accommodation (cottage/lodge $165/275) and a cafe
(mains $14 to $29).
