Waitoetoe Recreation Reserve

A genuine out of the way, rough as guts, old fashioned kiwi camping paddock. With a flush toilet. And a black sand beach.

If you are yearning for nothing, for the absence of even an access road, this beaut spot should fulfil your needs. Because in walking away from wifi, electricity, vehicles and action, you may find that there is something else to be seen and heard. Waves, wind, sea, New Zealand at it's wild west best.

The flat, grassed area is accessed by foot thanks to an unrepentant unrepaired slump in the old road. It is good for picnicking and free for up to four nights tenting, with access to the beach for swimming and surfcasting. Take care with the sand dune plants, and with the kids, sticky black sand is fun, but in the water there are rips and fast tides, and places to get stuck.

Views are pretty good here, and even better just a bit further up the road at the Whitecliffs Walkway, which goes all the way from Pukearuhe to Paranini.

The slump in the access road began in 2004 and hasn't let up. The abandoned dairy factory up on the main road was also called Waitoetoe and was in business from 1915, though these buildings are the 1942 fire replacements.

NZPlaces people - please send us a picture from Waitoetoe. (not to be confused with Waitoetoe Reserve in Palmerston North)