Pauanui is a tourist town of about seven hundred permanent residents on the Coromandel Peninsula, south-east of Auckland. It’s a popular place for Aucklanders to have their holiday homes, and was built for that purpose. Its layout includes a number of artificial canals. It’s across the mouth of the Tairua River from Tairua.
At the south end of Pauanui’s white sand surf beach is Mount Pauanui. It’s a serious climb, but offers spectacular views of the beach, sea, and surrounding native bush. By Tairua, an easier climb will take you up Paku Hill, an extinct volcano. Paku Hill also features the remains of a Maori village, or pa.
Divers may want to head out to Slipper Island and try their hands at wreck diving.
You can walk in the Coromandel’s largely untouched or regenerating native bush, and explore the remains of old gold mining and kauri logging sites. You can still pick up semi-precious gemstones in the streams here.
