Where Kiwis holiday

Gillian Vine discovers life’s a beach on the Coromandel.

The Coromandel tourism slogan is "Where Kiwis holiday" and the surfing Santa signs in Whangamata over summer indicate one of the attractions of the seaside town.

For those who don’t surf, there is safe swimming and boarding, thanks to lifeguards on duty, blobbing out on the sand to add another layer of tan or walking to the New Zealand dotterel sanctuary at the southern end of the beach.

Not being known to tan, I slipped on a top, slapped on sunblock and ambled 1km or so on silky sand to check out the dotterels.

The rare birds share with variable oystercatchers nesting space in a fenced-off area, but the black-and-white chaps weren’t home the day I visited, being too busy foraging on the beach. There, they ignored humans, some of whom got as close as a couple of metres from them.

At the sanctuary, I spotted four dotterels, one of our rarest shore birds with a population now only about 2500. Last year, seven chicks survived at Whangamata, a disappointing result despite a good breeding season nationally.

On the Coromandel, volunteer dotterel watchers monitor the birds from August to March and play an important role in their survival, through activities such as predator trapping and public education.

Dogs are not allowed on the beach between 9am and 6pm. There is a $100 fine for contravening the rule, but I couldn’t figure out if this was to protect birds or humans.

Another protection measure, this one for the sand dunes, is a series of ladder-like access steps all along the dunes.

At the northern end of the beach is a marina, opened in 2009, which offers sheltered berths within Whangamata Harbour and is a handy stopover for fishermen and divers on their way to Tuhua (Mayor Island).

Just 600m offshore, Whenuakura (Donut Island) is a fascinating islet consisting of a steep-sided rocky circle around a central lagoon. Tuatara were still living here in the 1980s and the landowners are committed to keeping the three islands in the group a protected habitat. The remains of an ancient volcanic blowhole, Whenuakura can be visited by taking a guided kayaking tour ($80).

For visitors who enjoy walking or cycling, there are good paths around the area, especially those in the nearby bush.

People flock to Whangamata from Auckland and the central North Island, but some visitors come from further afield.

The most famous was Humphrey, a grumpy old man who first came in August 1985, spent a few days of R & R, then departed. He must have liked the place because he returned the following year to play at the local golf course and swim in the nearby river.

Humphrey was probably on vacation from the sub-Antarctic islands, as he was a sea elephant, an old male whose third sojourn on the Coromandel was a little further north, at an Opoutere dairy farm. Maybe he thought they did B & Bs for 4m-long chaps who weighed in at some 3600kg. In the event, his accommodation was a drain, from whence he ventured out long enough to spook the cows, break fences and attract visitors from around the world.

After two months, the Gallagher Group, of Hamilton, funded an elephantine electric fence. A ticked-off Humphrey pushed off a month later and did not return.

Gallagher’s life-sized fibreglass replica of Humphrey takes pride of place at a playground near the marina, a reminder of the size of Whangamata’s most impressive visitor.

As I did, he obviously responded to the Coromandel slogan, "Where Kiwis holiday".

Like Humphrey, I plan to return, but not to sleep in a drain.