Waikōwhai Coastal Walkway

At this time of year in Auckland, you never know what the weather is going to do, rainy, windy, sunny, cloudy and maybe all of those at the same time. So when I rang my friend to go for a walk on a recent Sunday morning, it was hardly surprising that the first question she asked is what is the weather doing at your place. She has just had a couple of heavy downpours. We decided to brave the elements and meet, if it was raining too hard we could at least have a coffee and catch up.

The track is really interesting and is made up of several parts, this enables you to complete a 40 minute walk or a longer walk to over two hours depending on what you want. The track is well formed, depending on tides, some of the time you need to walk on footpaths. My advice is to check the tide times and the track maps so you know your plan before your walk. This of course, is common sense before any walk.

We walked up to the Hillsborough cemetery,it took us about two hours return. We didn't rush as we wanted to enjoy the scenery and sounds along the way. The track takes you along the boardwalk, past some small hidden beaches, through a small bush section, then you come out to the amazing older Hillsborough cemetery. When we arrived at the opening to the cemetery we were greeted by about 6 Tuis singing their birdsong and fluttering around. It was a wonderful sight and sound. We just stood and listened taking it all in.

We both commented at the end of the walk, what a great walk it was and how lucky we were with the weather. The great thing about a walk like this is the hidden gems you find along the way .

Tips: We started at the Taumanu Reserve entrance, where there is plenty of parking and clean toilet. Some areas of this walk can only be accessed at low tide, you need to wear sturdy shoes as part of the beach areas are quite muddy and slippery at this time of year. Find the full map and more information on the DOC website link here.