Pauanui is quite an odd place. Situated on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula its one of a handful of towns that are a popular summer destination for Aucklanders (primarily) and Kiwis in general. Its not the biggest town that we saw, but its definitely the wealthiest. I'm not sure if there's any others that would match the overall opulence. The houses for the most part are large, modern and well maintained. There's a neighborhood called the Canals where each house has its own dock through an engineered waterway. Most of the houses on this section are architect designed summer homes suitable for magazines.
There's a small airfield that's often used by private pilots to fly in their Cessnas and other small airplanes, though it's also a popular hang out for several WWII fighters that have been converted to acrobatic duties. Impromptu shows of their flying prowess were common most nights, though we sometimes wondered about their sobriety.
In among all the impressive houses are quite a few sections of land that had caravan villages spring up on them. The assumption being that they were people who had bought land to build houses but hadn't got to it yet. There were also some very modest smaller houses that had been built back when the place wasn't the hotspot it now is.
It's obvious what the attraction is though. The beaches are stunning, the water warm (by Canadian standards at least) the waves are strong (The Coromandel is known as a good surfing spot) and the fish bites often. It's got everything a beach town should have, minus a lot fo the tourist industry. That's mostly spread to the other towns we saw (Thames and especially Whangamata seemed to be real partytowns). Pauanui seemed like the type of place you'd buy in if you had a family or were looking for something quiet. The demographic was mostly older couples / families and their children.
Even on a rainy day the place is beautiful. These two photos were taken while driving back from Thames towards Pauanui, about 10 minutes outside of town. Being tucked between the ocean on one side and mountains (likely volcanoes) on the other, it gets the full variety of scenery.
Despite not receiving the gold old "fishes" treatment, I believe fish is still treated as though it were plural (it is): "the fish bite often". Unless there is only one fish in that part of the ocean, which I doubt. There are probably many fish and even many fishes.
ReplyDeleteThis is also my smarty-pants way of letting you know that somebody does in fact read this thing. That last photo is gorgeous.
Eli
I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I'll go edit that right now :P
ReplyDeleteI wish I could take credit for that one, but in fact, it's Carly's shot. Out the car window. While I was driving through a mountain pass.
It's my background right now, along with the one above for the other screen.