3. Coromandel

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    The Coromandel Peninsula is a visitors' paradise especially outside of the usual holiday periods. The Coromandel offers comparatively unspoilt area of forest and hills inhabited by young and old, who enjoy alternative life styles away from the pressures of city life. Narrow roads winding along wild coastlines lead you to a multitude of bays with sandy and rocky beaches lined with the holiday homes of city folk.
    The towns of Thames and Coromandel are focal points for those who seek to learn of the mining and timber industries of the past. Tucked away in the bush are the homes of potters, painters, and weavers, many of them world famous.
Try out the incredible Driving Creek railway of Barry Brickell just outside the town of Coromandel - it is something not to be missed.
    The Waikato stretches from the Bombay hills in the north to the King Country in the south, from Raglan in the west to the Kaimai Ranges in the east. It is the basin of the Waikato river, the longest in New Zealand, and is mainly rolling land ideal for a wide variety of farming.
Hamilton is a university city, with a Maori cultural heritage, sporting venues, an Animal Research Station and a zoo. It has a city garden of one hundred acres and many outstanding private gardens. Hamilton is a good base from which to see the many and varied facets of the North Island, before you head for the fishing of Lake Taupo or the ski fields of Tongariro National Park.
    Turangawaewae Marae-the home of the Maori King-is 20 km north of Hamilton at Ngaruawahia. Within easy reach to the west are the black sandy beaches of Raglan with waves known to surfies world wide. To the east, a little further away are the white sands of the Bay of Plenty.

       An hour's drive south south of Hamilton are the Waitomo Caves, with black water rafting and caving as well
as the glowworm caves.
     Rotorua is about the same distance to the south east where you can sample Maori culture and take a close look at volcanic activity in a city.
    The name King Country dates from 1857 when the surrounding Maori tribes elected chief Te Wherowhero to be king and spokesperson in an attempt to halt the loss of their land to the European settlers. It is the area south of the Waikato and includes Otorohanga - with a world class bird sanctuary, Waitomo – famous for its glow worm caves and black water rafting, Te Kuiti and Taumarunui - the gateway to the ski fields. It is predominantly a rugged sheep country, very different to the cattle farming Waikato. At Tongariro National Park one can ski or tramp depending on the season.