Mokau

No publicity, no tourists, no worries. This sleepy bach community, once a busy mining town, is nowadays mostly left to fishermen…and to the in-no-hurry sort of travelers who don’t need a lot of rah-rah brochures to know a peaceful beach when they see it. I love Mokau. Here’s why: it’s a long and scenic stretch of jet-blackblackblack sand, liberally sprinkled with all sorts of contorted and bleached driftwood. Sand can’t be more black than this—if the All Blacks had a beach, this would be it! Let’s see, there’s also some yellow sandstone bluffs and a neat sea cave area just inside the harbour mouth to investigate. On a clear day Mt. Taranaki shines over the whole deal…very nice. Photographers will love the contrasts in color and the shapely driftwood.

Try a magnet in the sand—it’s as if the sand is 100% iron!

Explore the harbour mouth, but the best place, in my view, is the somewhat hidden road on the north side of town, which delivers you right down to the sand. This is a perfect freedom campspot. There’s driftwood galore for a big beach fire directly outside your campervan door. Very few west coast beaches let you open your door directly onto the sands without actually driving on the beach. Know any others??

Avoid weekend camping—this beach carpark is no secret to locals who come to party all night. Directly above the beach—back up the road a short walk—is a sitting bench. Go have a look. A nice public restroom is back in town…do not mess up this area!!