Colville is a tiny community 26 kilometres north of Coromandel Town, sitting at the beginning of the wild northern tip of the peninsula. Beyond here the road becomes rough and eventually impassable by ordinary vehicles. The town has a famous general store — the Colville Store — which has served as general store, post office, and social hub for the far north of the peninsula for decades.
The northern tip beyond Colville is largely undeveloped, with small communities of alternative lifestylers who have lived here since the 1970s. The beaches are empty, the road requires care, and the scenery — steep bush-covered hills dropping to rocky shoreline — is striking. Moehau Mountain, the highest point on the peninsula at 892 metres, dominates the northern skyline.