Shakespear Regional Park

A countryside park at the tip of Whangaparaoa Peninsula offers safe swimming, walks and views of the Hauraki Gulf. Pillboxes and an anti-tank ditch in the park are heritage items surviving from Auckland's defences built to cut off invaders in the Second World War.

Shakespear Park benefits from its proximity to Tiritiri Matangi Island through the movement of native species such as tui, bellbirds and kakariki. A 1.5 kilometre pest prevention fence erected across the peninsula neck from Army Bay to Okoromai Bay forms an open sanctuary of some 555 hectares at the eastern end of the Whangaparaoa peninsula.

Stark geological formations signalling 'high and low angle faults and folds' are found in the Army Bay area, full of a range of stones and fossils and a special mix called Parnell Grit.

Council-provided facilities include a few public toilet blocks, a road named Bruce Harvey Drive, two campgrounds (booking required) and the obligitory large stand-in picture frame for photos.

Image Credit: Pat Greenfield, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Looking east from Jack Hobbs' farm (Gulf Harbour) across Okoromai Bay and Shakespear Regional Park towards Tiritiri Matangi (distance)