|
Home
|
Paddling a bit thirsty, on a rising tide
Shagging around up Whitianga Harbour
By Brian Rogers, Waterline Magazine.
Whitianga is a mecca for sea kayakers, with a fascinating mix of stunning surf coastline and intricate harbour waterways to explore.
One of the most popular trips, especially if conditions are unfavourable outside the harbour, is a trip up-river to the Coroglen pub.
It’s an easy couple of hours upstream from Whitianga township and the best plan is to go a bit thirsty, on a rising tide. Timed right, kayakers get tide assistance both ways, with a beer or two and a great meal at half time.
There’s nothing better than arriving at the Coro around lunchtime, for a couple of quenching ales and a plateful of pub lunch to fuel the body for the trip home.
The river route was once a busy waterway for small boats plying trade from the Whitianga township, wharf and mill – to the industrious “Gumtown” diggers, farmers and early settlers. The local Whitianga museum and the Coroglen Pub display photos from the old days, when the river was a busy highway of steamers, skiffs and scows.
The direct route to the Coroglen Pub from Whitianga means keeping left going up the harbour, through the mooring area and veering left to go through the Waiwawa river mouth. The harbour narrows, at the Kaitoke Reserve. This where Capt Cook fancied a lunchtime shag, so whipped out his big one. Musket, that is. He and Joseph Banks also climbed the hill to get a look ahead at the river headwaters. They couldn’t see the pub, so didn’t go further. They went back to the Endeavour and broiled their shags. But intrepid and thirsty kayakers know it’s worth carrying on. The Kaitoke reserve sign is on the left bank, just as the river narrows with mangrove islands on each side. About a km on from here is the first turnoff, to the left.
It’s not signposted, although we’ve often been tempted to put up a few “pub this way” arrows along the route. It’s opposite a small bluff on the right bank, beside a wooden boat launching ramp accessed from properties off Comers Road.
You can’t really go wrong from there. Just meander up the river, following your nose. As with most rivers, the deepest water is generally on the outside edges of the river bends. Not that it’s really an issue with a nearly full tide. There’s plenty of water under the paddle. As Cook noted while he was shagging around up there, the river is navigable for about a league. (He must have googled it, to find that’s 5.556 km) There’s another tributary a couple of km (or half a league) branching to the left, but there’s no pub up there. Just keep going straight with the main river channel till you find the small rapids, just before the bridge on State Highway 25.
There are plenty of pull-out places, probably the easiest being the grassy bank (also good for a shag) beside the saleyards on the left bank. Or if you’re energetic and water levels allow, you can blast up the rapids and take your pick of landing sites, even going beyond the road bridge. But even from the saleyards it’s only a 100m or so walk to the pub. Just make sure your boats are high enough above high tide, if it’s still rising behind you.
There’s even a stile to get over the fence, just before the bridge.
We enjoyed a very pleasant ale or two in the convivial atmosphere of the Coro, with great service and a hearty pub meal.
Around 4pm we’d calculated the tide would have turned, so we staggered back down the road and over the bridge and back into our kayaks, well ballasted, to enjoy a smooth afternoon glide back down the river, tide-assisted of course.
It was a beautiful spring afternoon, with the sun setting over the stunning Coromandel ranges as we cruised back into town. It’s just as rewarding in the summer, when the cool ales at the Coro are even more welcome. The harbour offers a labyrinth of side-trips for those wanting some exploration, with impressive stands of ancient mangrove forests, clumped in islands, to discover. And as Cook discovered a couple of centuries ago, if you’re lucky you can get a shag along the way.
Waterline Magazine has some great options for accommodation and trip packages. If you’re interested, give us a call and we can co-ordinate a Coromandel kayak adventure, tailored to your requirements.
brian@waterline.co.nz
PH 07 578 0030
Click here for the Waterline web site.
Myths & Realities: Reality = 18 is just the age at which you can legally purchase. You can legally drink alcohol at any age. ...more
This page last modified on 13-Oct-2006 |  | |
| |