On our second full day in Whangamatā we hit the road for the short drive south to Whiritoa - the next little town down the Coromandel. With only one little cafe/store and a fraction the population of Whangamatā (itself not that big of a town) there was a decidedly laid back feel as we pulled up to the beachside playground.
The weather was drizzling off and on but the boys persevered climbing, sliding, and leaping from all parts of the play structures. The playground was situated roughly at the middle of the mile long stretch of sand which was framed by large rocky cliff faces at either end. After a bit we dragged the boys down to the beach. From looking at a map it appeared that a stream flowed into the ocean at one end of the beach, and on the other side it looked like the sand continued around the back part of the cliffs we could see in the distance. Thinking there could be a secret beach that direction we began the long walk down to explore.
River was moving slowly, so I jogged ahead to see if it was really worth the long walk. When I got there I found that the sand did in fact continue around behind the cliff, and after a short walk I found a little beach tucked between cliff walls.
The sandy path narrowed but did continue on, so I followed it for a bit until I heard a stream. Coming out through the trees I saw a small stream flowing right into the shear rock face at the back side of the cliff. As I got closer I could see there was a cave the water flowed into, and I could hear what sounded like a small waterfall in the cave.
I crossed over the stream for a better view, and crouching down while standing part way in the water on the far side of the stream I could see a bit of light shining in the cave . . . I had to explore.
Wading into the stream I walked up to the mouth of the cave, climbing over rocks peppered in the sandy steam bottom. Getting closer to the cave I could see that after a short tunnel the cave opened up into some sort of room, and on the far side of that room another tunnel lead out. Knowing the ocean was on the other side of the cliff I assumed that second tunnel would lead into the ocean offshore of the beach.
While moving in knee deep water I climbed through the tunnel, and discovered that the room opened up to the sky . . . it was stunning. It appeared the roof of the cave must have collapsed long ago and left the room with a giant open ceiling framed by the forest above, it was a room with a view. To make it even more spectacular the stream had filled the room with a few feet of water prior to flowing out the other side, so I looked on in awe at the water below and the sky above - accessed through a 20 - 30 foot long tunnel - it felt like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.
While I very much wanted to cross the pool and see how quickly the other tunnel reached the ocean, the water was cold, I was still wearing a jacket (thankfully I had my board shorts on rather than long pants), and I needed to get back to help Sharyl bring the boys to this awesome spot!
So back out of the tunnel I went, and once I got around the back side of the cliff I found Reef had already made it down to the end of the beach, with Sharyl and River not far behind.
We first checked out the little beach, posing under a wave of rock as though we were surfing it. And took a few pictures to capture how tiny this private little piece of sand was.
While we were at the beach four Kiwi who looked ready for hiking and adventure had been in the area, and they headed down the trail toward the cave. Not wanting to tip anyone off about the cave I waited until they left to let Sharyl know what I'd found. We waited for a few minutes then followed the small group in the direction of the cave.
When we got there we could hear the people in the distance, they apparently had bypassed the cave. While I held River back, Reef and Sharyl set off on their cave adventure! They moved deeper into the cave than I did, and hung out in there for probably 10 minutes while I fended off River's attempts to fully emerge himself in the freezing stream and go on his first spelunking adventure!
While Sharyl and Reef were in the cave the four Kiwi hikers came climbing down the cliff right above the cave. Seeing me there they asked "can you go into that cave?" I said "yeah but you need to get into the stream to do it", they looked at each other and decided they didn't want to attempt it and hiked off.
A few minutes later Sharyl and Reef emerged from the cave, obviously as excited as I was about our discovery! Sharyl had gotten some great pictures in the cave, and Reef just thought the whole thing was super cool.
River wasn't really up for a 1/2 mile walk back down the beach and was obviously a bit cold from splashing in the stream and grumpy from not being allowed to charge into the cave with his big brother. So I slung him over my shoulder and carried him back to the car.
As we drove back to Whangamatā with a warm drink in hand from Whiritoa General Store & Cafe, we talked all about the amazing find - though it is undoubtedly a place others have found before us it was completely unknown to us when we stumbled upon it; providing a sense of adventure and discovery which is quintessential New Zealand.
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