Whakanewha - Rocky Bay

HALF DAY BUSH AND BEACH WALK ON WAIHEKE ISLAND

A sweeping beach, backgrounded by bush, offers swimming, picnicking, walking and camping. It is now an Auckland Regional Park. "At high tide the water is shallow, warm and ideal for children. Picnic spots on the foreshore are plentiful." Whakanewha Regional Park has a fragment of mature coastal forest (taraire, kohekohe and kanuka). To get there you can take a ferry to Waiheke and a shuttle or bus to Whakanewha. Read an account of how it can be done.

The campground is called Poukaraka and the carpark at the beach is called 'Whakanewha Park Sculpture Carpark'. The 30 minute loop track, Poukaraka Pa path, follows Gordon's Road and there are historical kumara storage pits located at 379A Gordons Road. There is also a shorter forest loop track, and from nearby (but just outside of the park) Omiha, you can take the Rocky Bay Roads track. It starts at the picturesque Omiha Memorial Hall, near to Mary Wilson Reserve. The Esplanade walk takes an hour.

Please send your pictures of lovely Whakanewha in to us at NZPlaces and check out James Littlewood's trip report: The train to Kuakarau.

HALF DAY BUSH AND BEACH WALK ON WAIHEKE ISLAND