Waihi Beach -Spring is here - Summer is on the way

It must be spring time - kowahi trees in blossom,new born lambs running round in the paddocks and daffodils a plenty.

The beach is getting ready for summer - sand is slowly coming back to the beach after the winter of easterly winds , retailers, cafes and the accommodation sector are readying themselves for the summer season and we have daylight saving starting overnight.It already getting lighter in the mornings much earlier and  getting darker later - bring on summer.

 Checkout activities to see and do at Waihi Beach on  www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach & graffiti

It is pretty disappointing to see the Waihi Beach sign on SH2 coming from Katikati to Waihi Beach now graffitied.It appears to have been done some time late last week or on the weekend.  I know we have done well to escape this menace for this long but it does not mean we have to like it.

Those who graffiti other peoples property do not respect them selves, other people or other peoples property and they are a curse on our community.

This act just creates negatives all round - someone else has to go and clean up the sign or worse arrange to have it repaired all at some one elses cost - usually the poor homeowner or the person whose property gets defaced.

If you saw someone doing the graffiti please let our Waihi Beach police know about it or if you hear about the persons responsible for this again please contact the Waihi Beach Police.

Mother nature and Waihi Beach

Just taking a walk along the beach recently revealed mother nature had been doing what it does best.
Sand has disappeared from the beach by the thousands of cubic metres to the right of the Mako Rd  entrance right along the beach and the sand has a black tinge to it.Local maori said the black in the sand is from Mayor Island - obsidian washed ashore. That is one explanation but I am not sure - seems logical.

The entrances shown all used to be covered with sand and hopefully in time- may be 3 - 6 months it will return but meantime in parts it looks like a big grader has been along the beach and gouged out the sand.

The culprit is the easterly weather - we have had many easterly winds and  that means bad weather/storms and gouging. Our prevailing wind here is from the west and we have not had many of those recently or even in the last 6 months that I can remember.

The entrance we use down at the bottom of Mako Rd hangs by strainers - we used to walk our wheel barrows down the sand to go torpedo fishing. If we wanted to do that today we would need to use another entrance as ours is not safe. Heres hoping mother nature does it's thing and brings the sand back as it normally does in time for summer and many more hours of fishing.

For information on finding Wiahi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/maps.html

Waihi Beach & Southern Coromandel

                                                         Image from Mike Hill photography

The agent famil is over and fingers crossed we now have some converts to seeing what a beautiful piece of paradise we have here in Southern Coromandel  including Waihi Beach .

There were initial comments like - "we did not realise how much there was to see and do, we had always sent our clients north, we sent our clients direct to Rotorua" - and more so may be our timing was spot on and our goal of making agents responsible for bringing visitors to the region aware of what's on offer was achieved. However the proof of the pudding will be in the eating - we will watch with interest.

The agents were hosted in 3 quality properties coutresy of www.southerncoromandellodges.co.nz plus most had a Harley experiece courtesy of Bularangi Harley Tours and at the same time saw snippets of Southern Coromandel.

We took in the Martha mine, Waihi Beach and the Karangahake gorge and we arranged presentations to them from both the Hauraki Rail Trail and the Gold Discovery centre in Waihi on progress with the respective activities - more pieces of the jigsaw coming tiogether to make Southern Coromandel a strong offer for prospective visitors.

For more information on activities in and around Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach on TV1 news

Unbelievable - yep we have finally broken through and folk now know we exist.

Waihi Beach appears on the lead in page to TV1's weather on Saturday night @ approx 6.25 pm- we are making it now - we have been discovered!

We think its about time Waihi Beach got mentioned. No not Waihi or little Waihi or the Waihi near Maketu - Waihi Beach  - 2 hours south of Auckland - just as we know it.

Obviously the next step is to get TV1 weather to have Waihi Beach permanently put on the lead in smaller towns map in between Whakatane and Whitianga - presently there is nothing so a town of our quality would fit in there just right.

I am sure local photographers like Mike Hill and Bary Jesney can keep them updated with images of our piece of paradise and of course we will set up a temperature gauge and daily report the local weather conditions.

Waihi Beach & The Barrier

Recently there has been talk about replacing/upgrading the library in Waihi - this is how they get by on the Barrier and get by they do. At Waihi Beach we have a very good library and it would be 4 or 5 times the size of the one above and it appears to be very well used.

For more information on things to do at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Agents visiting Waihi Beach and Southern Coromandel

                               The Homunga toWaihi Beach walking track

We have 10 or so inbound tour operators (agents who for the most part act for wholesalers somewhere else in the world) coming to see the Coromandel later this month spending a day in both northern and southern Coromandel.

In southern Coromandel they will be staying at the 3 Southern Coromandel Lodges as well as seeing the sights of Waihi, Waihi Beach and the Karangahake gorge as we update them on our little piece of paradise. We will be promoting the now open  Hauraki Rail Trail, updating them on the Gold Discovery centre in Waihi and launching Maori tourism products exclusive to the Southern Coromandel. Bularangi Harley Tours will being showing agents the options for tours & Harley hire and those that are keen will get the chance to see parts of southern Coromandel from the back of a Harley during their stay.

While they are in our area the agents will be sampling the best  local produce and wines as well as sharing our hospitality. Ali & I are providing a seafood soup for dinner on one of the nights - gave it a trial run last night- can't wait to share it with our guests and fellow famil contributors.

For more information on how to find Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/map.html