Thames

We left Mount Maunganui in the pouring rain and headed over to Thames on the west side of the Coromandel Peninsula. The rain continued but seemed to lighten up a bit by the time we checked into our campsite. There were no cabins available so we rented a caravan for the night which was something out of the 1960’s. Bree thought it was wonderful and we were happy not to have to be in the tent as the winds and rain picked up again in the afternoon.

Since it was rainy we opted for a tour of a gold mine. It was quite interesting and we got to walk through some of the old underground tunnels. The area of the southern Coromandel is full of gold mines with a large open pit mine still operating in the Waihi area.

I decided to go for a trail run later in the afternoon. The campsite we were at was next to the start of Rocky’s Goldmine Trail which is written up as a more advanced 2-3 hour tramp (which means walk/hike). I decided to run the loop and headed out onto the trail. It was a steep climb at the start and at the top there would have been beautiful views except for the weather. I kept going and started down towards “Tinkers Gulley” and things began to get interesting. All of the rain had caused the trail to turn into a small stream and when I reached the actual stream it had become a river. The trail crosses the stream about 5-6 times and usually it is an easy to cross but due to the high water it was knee height and moving fairly swiftly. I was very cautious and made my way through the section and along some pretty narrow parts of the trail. I was relieved when I finally reached the gravel road that leads back to the start of the loop. This was short lived as I rounded a bend and found part of the road to be underwater with the river flowing over a low section. A family on the other side came to my rescue and helped me cross safely and from there is was only 5 minutes back to the park.  I must say my heart rate got pretty high during that run and it wasn’t from going fast! I think I will stay off the trails until the storm front passes over and things dry out a little.