Why this ride
From Thames it runs 734 km to the finish; allow about 11 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of Coromandel town, Whitianga beach, Kauaeranga valley and near Papakura. The coast is the point of it.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Auckland · Coromandel Peninsula Loop + Rotorua Lakes and Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 734 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 56
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Coromandel Peninsula Loop
For 34 km this is Coromandel Peninsula Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
- Named road
- Coromandel Peninsula Loop
back to Thames fuel → Rotorua Lakes and Forest fuel gate
50 km on back to Thames fuel → Rotorua Lakes and Forest fuel gate.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 50 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Thames fuel
Thames is the gateway to the Coromandel, and it behaves like one, a handsome, slightly worn gold town that still has a main street of old verandahs and a stack of heritage stories. In the 1860s the strike of gold in the nearby hills brought thousands of diggers, and for a few years this was one of the largest towns in New Zealand. The mines have gone, but the School of Mines building and the mineral museum are reminders, and the long tidal flats on the Firth of Thames in front of the town are a world-class stopover for migrating shorebirds.
Read the complete Thames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Thames fuel is where the day begins. Next is Coromandel town.
2. Coromandel town
Coromandel Town is the real thing: a small, unhurried settlement of around fifteen hundred people on the west side of the peninsula, facing the Hauraki Gulf at the head of a quiet harbour. It is the last proper town before the road goes feral in the north, and it earns its place on the Auckland loop as a lunch stop and a point of arrival, since the road in from Thames is one of the great coastal rides in the country.
Read the complete Coromandel town write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coromandel town is where this day stops to eat. Next is Whitianga beach.
3. Whitianga beach
Mercury Bay is the name on the map, and Whitianga is the town that wraps around it, on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula where the Pacific comes in flat and blue and rather unhurried. Captain Cook anchored here in November 1769 to watch the transit of Mercury, which is how the bay got its name, and Māori ancestors had been using the harbour long before that. The beach in front of the town is a long, gentle curve of pale sand with shallow water, the sort of beach where you can leave your jacket and boots on a bag and actually swim without negotiating surf.
Read the complete Whitianga beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
149 km in you reach Whitianga beach. Next is Kauaeranga valley.
4. Kauaeranga valley
The Kauaeranga Valley runs up from the edge of Thames into the steep, wooded core of the Coromandel Peninsula, and it tells the story of the region more honestly than the postcard beaches on the other coast. Thames, about six and a half kilometres away, was a gold-rush town in 1867, and when the gold gave out the loggers turned to the great kauri forests. The valley is full of reminders. Dams built of kauri logs were used to hold water and release it in a flood to float timber down to the mill, and the remains of one, the Dancing Camp dam, can still be walked to.
Read the complete Kauaeranga valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kauaeranga valley, early in the day. Next is back to Thames fuel.
5. back to Thames fuel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at back to Thames fuel. That is the ride. Next is Rotorua Lakes and Forest.
6. Fuel stop near Papakura
Papakura grew up on the Great South Road, built by British troops in the early 1860s to move soldiers and supplies south for the invasion of the Waikato, a key episode of the New Zealand Wars. Redoubts and military settlements dotted the route, and Papakura was one of them. Today it is a busy town on the southern edge of Auckland, with a main street, a railway station and expanding suburbs.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Papakura write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rotorua Lakes and Forest is the fuel stop for this leg. Next is Auckland / New Zealand return.
7. Warkworth
Planning note
448 km in you reach Auckland / New Zealand return. Next is Food stop near Wellsford.
8. Food stop near Wellsford
Planning note
Somewhere to get off the bike, 522 km in. Next is Rotorua Lakes and Forest photo pull-off.
9. Titirangi
Titirangi feels like the last stop before the wild west of Auckland, and in a sense it is. The village sits on a ridge at the edge of the city, with cafes, a few shops and houses hidden among native bush, and beyond it the Waitākere Ranges roll west toward the Tasman Sea. The name is usually translated from Māori as fringe of heaven, and on a clear evening, looking out over the Manukau Harbour with the light fading behind the hills, it is hard to argue.
Read the complete Titirangi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rotorua Lakes and Forest photo pull-off sits at 597 km, about halfway. Next is Rotorua Lakes and Forest checkpoint 8.
10. Titirangi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Titirangi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rotorua Lakes and Forest checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Scenic stretch near Waiuku.
11. Scenic stretch near Waiuku
Waiuku sits at the head of a long, muddy arm of the Manukau Harbour, south-west of Auckland, and for centuries it was a crossroads. Māori travellers hauled canoes across the short portage between the Manukau and the Waikato River here, linking the harbours of the north with the great river system of the interior, and early European traders used the same route. Today it is a quiet country town serving farms in the surrounding hills, with a main street of shops and cafés and an easy, unhurried rhythm.
Read the complete Photo stop near Waiuku write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
746 km in you reach Scenic stretch near Waiuku. Next is High point near Pukekohe East.
12. High point near Pukekohe East
The soil around Pukekohe is a deep chocolate red, the gift of old volcanoes, and it grows a startling share of New Zealand's vegetables. Market gardens, many started by Chinese and Indian immigrants in the twentieth century, cover the slopes with neat rows of onions, potatoes and greens, and the area remains one of the most productive horticultural districts in the country. Pukekohe East is a rural community on the low hills to the east of the town, with long views over the fields.
Read the complete High point near Pukekohe East write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
High point near Pukekohe East, late in the day. Next is Back to Rotorua Lakes.
13. Back to Rotorua Lakes
The point on the map falls in the rural country southeast of Auckland, between the sprawl of Papakura and the heights of the Hunua Ranges, an area of farmland, small vineyards and forested hills that most visitors never see. Auckland ends here rather suddenly, with the last houses giving way to paddocks, cattle, hedges of macrocarpa and the occasional lifestyle block. The Hunua Ranges, a large regional park, hold some of the city's water supply and the remnants of native forest, with the Hunua Falls and tracks to waterfalls.
Read the complete Rotorua Lakes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Rotorua Lakes closes the day.
Leg by leg
Thames fuel to Coromandel town
Thames fuel → Coromandel town is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coromandel town to Whitianga beach
Coromandel town → Whitianga beach is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Whitianga beach to Kauaeranga valley
Whitianga beach → Kauaeranga valley is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kauaeranga valley to back to Thames fuel
Kauaeranga valley → back to Thames fuel is 8 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back to Thames fuel to Fuel stop near Papakura
back to Thames fuel → Fuel stop near Papakura is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop near Papakura to Warkworth
Fuel stop near Papakura → Warkworth is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Wellsford to Titirangi
Food stop near Wellsford → Titirangi is 107 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Scenic stretch near Waiuku to High point near Pukekohe East
Scenic stretch near Waiuku → High point near Pukekohe East is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Pukekohe East to Back to Rotorua Lakes
High point near Pukekohe East → Back to Rotorua Lakes is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Coromandel Loop · 404 km
- East Cape Long Adventure · part 2 · 243 km
- Waitākere Ranges and Piha · part 3 · 138 km
- East Cape Long Adventure · short arc · 308 km