4 Best Sights in Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

Mataatua, one of the most beautiful carved wharenui (meetinghouses) in Māoridom, endured a 130-year-long indignity: it was dismantled; carted to museums around New Zealand, Australia, and England; and rebuilt in various forms. In 2011, the house was returned home to the local Ngāti Awa people and restored. For a truly enriching cultural experience, let these people host you, explain their protocols, and share their history (including song, chants, and an outstanding light show). They’ll also take you for a short coastal walk, tell the story of their ancestors, and show you where they first landed in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

The region’s most popular and safest swimming beach is the 11-km (7-mile) laid-back Ōhope, just a 10-minute drive east of Whakatane. Pohutukawa Avenue, Ōhope's main road, runs parallel to the beach, flanked by native pohutukawa trees, private homes, and grazing cows. You can stay in the Top 10 Holiday Park or choose from a range of holiday homes, motels, apartments and B&Bs. There's lots to do here: fishing off the beach, surfing, and walking the Nga Tapuwae o Toi trail are just a few options. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (free); toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking.

Just beyond Ohope, following Wainui Road around the huge Ohiwa Harbour, it's not uncommon to see locals (plus the prolific number of resident wading birds) out on the mudflats harvesting oysters for dinner. The Ohiwa Oyster Farm grows its own oysters and smokes a variety of fish. They serve it all up takeaway style from a humble little kitchen/hut. The harborside picnic tables are a lovely setting for enjoying these tasty morsels.

If you've a hankering to see the stars from an antipodean perspective, check out the Whakatane Observatory, up on a hill above the town. With no city lights to obscure the view, the skies here rate among the clearest in the country. Showings are obviously weather dependent; however, on a good night you will see in stark clarity sights such as the "jewel box," a cluster of multicolor stars near the Southern Cross. Nighttime presentations are informal and informative, led by local astrologer Norm Izett.