A perfect day dawned, with flat-calm sea and clear sky. A good number of keen beans arrived at the southern estuary end of Orewa, including fun newbies, even with a super-early start of 7.30 am. The absolute low tide was also perfect for this walk; a couple of places can be difficult to pass otherwise.
We started by walking along Orewa Beach, which was absolute magic (see my description above). Heating up quickly, we reached the rocks and the fun began. A scramble around the first set of rocks to Hatfields Beach—all good—then onto the next scramble across the rocks towards Waiwera. Due to the large group we didn’t reach Waiwera and had to turn back so we were still good for the tide.
Back on solid ground at Hatfields and up the path to Alice Eaves Bush at the northern end of Orewa. If you’ve not been in there before, you’re missing out. You could easily spend an hour or more in this beautiful bush.
The boardwalks pass through thousands of kauri, both ricker (small) and massive. It was a treat to see so many healthy kauri, plus some exceptionally tall kahikatea and puriri.
The bush area hooks into some cool, semi-mountain-bike tracks along the stream. Muddy fun, so we almost felt like we were in the Waitaks.
After lunch we headed back along the path above the beach to the cars. We will neither confirm nor deny if there was a stop at the Estuary Arts Cafe. Hehe!
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, with lots of great, mixed company. I always find it rewarding when everyone enjoys themselves, especially when one of the locals tells me they haven’t been through the area before.