Coromandel

Drive 54 km (1 hour) north from Thames, or 28 km (half an hour) west from Kuaotunu.

An alternative route from Whitianga is the unsealed 309 Road, so named either because there are 309 bends in the road, or because horse-drawn coaches used to take 309 minutes to travel it. The two ends of the road are a few km south of the two towns. There are several attractions on the road, including the Waterworks.

• Coromandel Forest Park
• Coromandel Goldfield Centre and Stamper Battery, Buffalo Rd.
• Driving Creek Railway and Potteries, Kennedy Bay Rd. A tourist attraction that began as a back yard project for sculptor Barry Brickell, who initially created his narrow gauge railway to help extract sculpting clay from deposits on his land. Over the years it has grown into an elaborate mountain railway with spirals, tunnels, viaducts, reversing points, and a summit station called the "Eyefull Tower", with views above the forest canopy across the Coromandel Peninsula. $20 for one hour return trip. 
• School of Mines Museum, 841 Rings Rd.
• The Waterworks, 471 The 309 Rd (7 km from Coromandel town). Daily Nov–Mar 10AM–6PM, Apr–Oct 10AM–4PM. A theme park of water-powered inventions. Adult $25, child $20. (updated Mar 2017)

• 🌍 Four Square Supermarket, 50 Wharf Rd. Daily 7AM–7PM. (updated Aug 2015)

• 🌍 Peppertree Restaurant & Bar, 31 Kapanga Rd, ☏ +64 7 866 8211, dine@peppertreerestaurant.co.nz. Daily 10AM–9PM. All-day brunch and dinner. 

• Kuaotunu – a beach directly across the peninsula on the east coast