Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
fords Wharf, Te Kouma, where free buses shuttle passengers the 10km into Coromandel
Town. It makes a great day trip from Auckland (same-day return $69), and there's a day-
tour option that includes a hop-on, hop-off bus (adult/child $94).
BUS
port-Thames-Tairua-Whitianga shuttles year-round, with a connection to Opoutere and
Whangamata. From mid-December to Easter it also runs Ro-
torua-Tauranga-Waihi-Whangamata-Whitianga and Coromandel Town-Whitianga
shuttles.
land-Thames-Paeroa-Waihi-Tauranga and Hamilton-Te
Aroha-Paeroa-Thames-Coromandel Town. Local routes include Thames-Coromandel
Town-Whitianga and Whitianga-Tairua-Thames.
Maunganui-Rotorua-Gisborne route stop at Ngatea, where local associate Tairua Bus
Company continues on to Whitianga.
Thames-Tairua-Hahei-Whitianga-Coromandel Town route and a
Hamilton-Cambridge-Te Aroha-Thames-Tairua service.
CAR
Car is the only option for accessing some of the more remote areas, but be careful to
check hire agreements as there are plenty of gravel roads and a few streams to ford. Most
of them are in good condition and even a small car can cope unless the weather's been
particularly wet.
WAIKATO
History
By the time Europeans started to arrive, this region - stretching as far north as Auck-
land's Manukau Harbour - had long been the homeland of the Waikato tribes, descended
from the Tainui migration. In settling this land, the Waikato tribes displaced or absorbed
tribes from earlier migrations.
Initially European contact was on Maori terms and to the advantage of the local -
people. Their fertile land, which was already cultivated with kumara and other crops, was
