Girl, 6, falls 6 metres onto rocks

Westpac's rescue helicopter helped retrieve a girl who fell 6m in the Coromandel. File Photo / Richard Robinson

A 6-year-old girl's family holiday in the Coromandel came to a painful end when she tumbled 6m off a slippery track and on to the rocks below.

The South Auckland girl suffered a badly bruised hip and leg after falling from the track between Whangapoua Beach and New Chums Beach, about 17km northeast of Coromandel, on Saturday afternoon.

Westpac rescue helicopter pilot Rob Arrowsmith said the track around the headland was quite narrow in places and slippery from recent rain.

"She fell 6m off the track and landed on rocks."

Mr Arrowsmith said the girl was in "a lot of pain" when the helicopter crew arrived.

"Her whole side was black and blue like she'd been beaten up pretty badly," he said.

"She'd had a decent amount of painkiller ... she started to smile after that."

The girl and her mother were airlifted to Middlemore Hospital.