Cycling in Coromandel: Day 8, 6th January, 2018: Fletchers Bay to Coromandel Town
We made an early start from Fletchers Bay, after saying a fervent thank you to Rangers Judy and James for their hospitality. The first hill of the day, in what promised to be a challenging ride of 6 big hills, gravel road and who knows what debris on the road.
What we were really interested to see was what damage at occurred at the Port Jackson Campground as a result of the previous day’s king tide, exacerbated by the storm surge and the super moon. We knew from reports that the seas had washed over the front half of the campground. It was still a shock to see the damage for ourselves.
The sea had thrown up debris across the previously tidy campsite. Bollards had been uprooted and redistributed, along with the wreckage of the boat, previously tidily gathered together waiting for the right conditions for a burn-off.
One of the worst areas was right in front of the office, which the sea got rather close to.
Clean up had begun with staff, volunteers and campers all lending a hand.
As well as the debris strewn by the sea, there were large rocks across many of the campsites. The image above shows the site where we had camped two nights previously. It was uncomfortable thinking about the possibility that the sea might have dumped those rocks there while our tent was there.
The previously sandy beach was now a stony beach. No-one knows how long it may take for the sand to return - if it does. Not surprisingly, there was no-one in the water.
A last look at Port Jackson which had suffered so in the storm. Frederick and Ursula, who are the Rangers at the campground, took such good care of the site and the campers. Some of the campground was still pristine and hosting campers, and I am sure they will work very hard to restore the rest of it to the welcoming, peaceful place it was when we arrived.
We were also a little apprehensive about what we might find as we headed south to Coromandel Town along the gravel road which mostly hugged the coastline.
The seas were still fierce, boiling white against the foot of the cliffs. Along much of the coastline, the sea was muddy from the streams. The sea had undermined the root systems of a number of the pohutakawas which seems likely to cause further damage in the next big winds.
The camp ground at Waiaro was flooded.
But there were also sights to delight us that had nothing to do with the impact of the storm and reminded us of the reason that we cycle. It is so much easier to see and to stop to closely observe sights such as these nesting shags.
After all the storm damage that was observable from Port Jackson through to Colville, the route after our lunch stop at Colville was uneventful. Just 3 more large hills and 25 km to ride, before we pulled into Coromandel Town. Tired after all that we had seen, the hills and the 60 km we had ridden, we enjoyed a marvellous dinner at the Pepper Tree restaurant and went thankfully to bed.
