Pacific Coast Highway

The verdant Coromandel Peninsula is famed for its scarlet-blooming pohutakawa trees, which line a coast of glorious white sand beaches and secret coves, backed by luxuriant forested hills. Visitors are enticed by its rich tradition of gold mining, a journey on the scenic narrow gauge railway and the natural attractions of Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove and arguably one of the most beautiful coastal paths in the country, the Coromandel Walkway.

The Bay of Plenty with its golden beaches and kiwi and citrus orcards extends over 200km, in a great arc from the Coromandel Peninsula to the East Cape. Struck by the affluence and generosity of the Maori, Captain Cook named it Bay of Plenty, when he landed here in 1769. Along the coast is the lively port of Tauranga, the surfing holiday town of Mt. Maunganui and Whakatane, the base for trips to the nature reserve of Whale Island and volcanic White Island, where hissing steam and sulphurous gas clouds escape from a desolate crater.

Eastland is sparsely populated and less visited than most other regions, yet is is blessed with a balmy sub-tropical summer climate. The Pacific Coast Highway hugs the coast from Opitiki and around the East Cape to Gisborne, which as the first city in the world to greet the Millenium, became famous for a night. Hawke's Bay is the second largest wine-producing region in the country and visitors can enjoy fine local Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot. New Zealand's most unusual city, Napier was rebuilt in Art Deco style following a devastating earthquake in 1931.