mattmayadventure: Coromandel

May is a great river crosser. There is no doubt of this. As proof, here is a video-highlight of May’s crossing of a river in the great Kauaeranga Valley:

This was the first test on our way up to the Pinnacles of the lower Coromandel, where we would spend one night backcountry camping. Our trip up there was via the Billygoat Trail. The first hour or so was nearly a straight incline – it felt that way, at least. After a solid climb to begin the hike, the rest of the hike was spent near the tops of the mountains, which made the views great. They were especially good given that several decades ago a sacked bushman named Racehorse Jack set most of the area on fire. Like many things in NZ, the day is best described with pictures:

View of where May did her river crossing

Billygoat Falls

Table Mountain

After we arrived at our campsite, we climbed the “1,000 steps” to the peak of the Pinnacles. The views were well-earned …

View from the top

They call it the 1,000 Steps, but May counted only 650 or so, although this excluded natural steps and rungs up rocks near the end.

On Day 2 in the Coromandel, we trekked down the mountain back to our car, and headed out to Hot Water Beach (a beach with a hot spring running under a portion of it, so if you dig a hole in this area around low tide, it will fill with hot water from the spring) and the Cathedral Cove area.