State Highway 25 (SH 25) is a

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in New Zealand that loops around the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

. It is a major route for holidaymakers and tourists which has access to some of New Zealand's most idyllic beach holiday spots. The summer period around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

is a particularly busy period for the highway. The road is very scenic, but also windy in many parts as well as single carriage on the entire route, and is prone to accidents. It is New Zealand's third longest two-digit state highway, after and . It is part of the Pacific Coast Highway. There is one spur road, SH 25A, that crosses the peninsula west to east, almost intersecting SH 25 at both ends.

Route

SH 25 begins at 3 km north of Mangatarata at a roundabout intersection. The highway travels eastwards across the

Hauraki Plains The Hauraki Plains are a geographical feature and non-administrative area (though Hauraki Plains County Council existed from 1920 to 1989 and a statistical Area Unit remains) located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower ( ...

where it crosses the

Waihou River The Waihou River is located in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Its former name, Thames River, was bestowed by Captain James Cook in November 1769, when he explored of the river from the mouth. An older Māori name was "Wai Kahou Roun ...

on the new Kopu Bridge, it hits the junction with and moves northwards through the township of

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The road continues north, skirting the Firth of Thames into the small township of

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements ** Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Coro ...

before travelling eastwards across the peninsula to the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

side towards

Whitianga Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located on Mercury Bay, on the northeastern coast of the peninsula. The town has a permanent population of as of making it the ...

. SH 25 veers south-west on the Whitianga Bypass, through Coroglen and Whenuakite and over windy hill roads into

Tairua The town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula. Tairua is a Māori name which translates literal ...

, where

Pauanui The town of Pauanui (a Māori language name meaning "big pāua (abalone)") is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its south bank, directly opposite the la ...

is accessible. SH 25 then continues southwards, past the intersection of the spur highway SH 25A and towards

Whangamatā The town of Whangamatā is on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres north of Waihi, to the north of the western extremity of the Bay of Plenty. In holiday times the popu ...

. The road bypasses Whangamatā on the west side and continues southbound until it reaches its final terminus in

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

at the intersection of Kenny Street & Rosemont Road.

Spurs

State Highway 25A (SH 25A) traverses the

from west to east directly. This 28.2 km road begins at the intersection of only 400m away from the SH 25/SH 26 intersection. It terminates on SH 25 between

and

Route changes

SH 25 once went through the town centres of

and

. In Whitianga, the bypass was constructed carrying traffic away from the original route via Buffalo Beach Road, Albert Street, and South Highway. In Whangamatā, SH 25 bypasses the town via Tairua Road instead of using Harry Watt Drive, Hetherington Road and Port Road. In the early 2000s the last sections of the highway were sealed, particularly around the northern end of the Coromandel Peninsula between Coromandel township and Whitianga. In 2011 NZTA completed the new

Kopu Bridge The Historic Kopu Bridge (originally Hauraki Bridge and sometimes Waihou River Bridge) is a single-lane swing bridge that spans the Waihou River, near its emergence into the Firth of Thames in the Thames-Coromandel District of New Zealand's Nort ...

, a two lane structure, across the

. It replaced the previous one-lane bridge, where at times holidaymakers had to queue for hours to cross. The old bridge, which was built in 1928, is scheduled to be deconstructed although a key part of its history will still be preserved.

Major junctions

References

External links