About 20 minutes after you have turned left
off the Southern Motorway towards Thames/Tauranga,
you will arrive at the Thames turn-off, about
100m past a tea rooms on the left. Here,
it is decision time again.
Turn left for Thames and the Coromandel -- or carry straight on for a kilometer or two and turn left to Karangahake Gorge and Waihi?
If you are on a five-day need-for-speed,
blitzkrieg advance, then you will charge on
straight ahead. Doing the round trip via
both coasts of the Coromandel will add up
to a day and half.
A compromise solution is to turn left to
Thames, motor up the Firth of Thames and
enjoy one of the country's most beautfiful
coastal drives until you turn inland. Instead
of driving on to Coromandel town, turn around
and come right back down again to Thames
and on to Waihi by the alternative Thames-Paeroa-Waihi
highway.
If you have arrived at the Thames turn-off before mid-day, then you can enjoy the truly scenic Firth of Thames drive and make it to the Waihi Motor Camp before dusk, having at least driven through the Karangahake Gorge on the way.
However, be in no doubt about the scenic benefits of turning left and heading for Coromandel town via Thames with the idea of spending some time there and maybe staying the night in Coromandel. To do so will significantly add to your life-span.
I need to add that if you are driving an
unfamiliarly large motorhome and you are travelling
in pouring rain, then turning left could
actually shorten your life-span as, while
it is a perfectly good and safe highway at
cautious speeds, the Thames Coast Road definitely
falls into the narrow and winding category.
In a car or smaller campervan, no problem,
irrespective of the weather. But for relatively
inexperienced drivers of big motorhomes,
the transition from motorway to coastal scenic
road in difficult weather conditions can
be quite demanding.
My recommendation: Reasonable weather prospects
in the immediate future, turn left. Bad weather,
unfamiliar large motorhome and/or time constraints,
move on a kilometer or two to the next turn left which will
take you directly to Karangahake Gorge and
Waihi.