The Coromandel Peninsula, across the Hauraki Gulf from Auckland, was once a prime destination in New Zealand for its gold mines. Hundreds of people flocked there and towns established across the land. Now the gold is gone and so is much of the population. There are now mostly artists and fishermen on the peninsula. It is one of the country's largest providers of mussels and prawns.
Stepping into Coromandel Town feels like walking into the past. Only one small strip of restaurants and stores account for the downtown area and many of the buildings still stand from the 1800s. A local history museum sits just north of the main drag and consists of three rooms stuffed with relics and snippets of the old town. There was even a cabinet of rock and mineral samples from the old Coromandel School of Mines.
The visitors center provides a free guide of the historic buildings in town with a walking map and descriptions of the buildings' pasts. The walk includes churches, the old hospital, a gold mine (now a mine museum) and politicians' houses.
It appeared that the majority of people I saw on the streets had come across on the same boat as myself. If a person wasn't working behind a register or serving tables, they were just visiting. The entire concept felt peculiar. It was almost like walking into a historic village where everyone dresses up and speaks in olde English.
Toward the end of the day, everyone was walking around with ice cream cones. I was on my way to get a latte and sit in a cafe for the last twenty minutes before our boat left, but after a dozen people had passed by while licking ice cream in that particular swirl of the tongue motion that you only really do with ice cream cones... I followed suit and sat in the grass underneath a warm spring sun.
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