Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Regular buses head to Long Bay from Albert St in the city (adult/child $6.80/4, one
hour). If you're driving, leave the Northern Motorway at the Oteha Valley Rd exit, head
towards Browns Bay and follow the signs.
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Shakespear Regional Park
Shooting out eastward just before Orewa, the Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a heavily deve-
loped spit of land with a sizable South African expat community. At its tip is this gor-
geous 376-hectare regional park, its native wildlife protected by a 1.7km pest-proof
fence.
Sheep, cows, peacocks and pukeko ramble over the grassy headland, while -
pohutukawa-lined
Te Haruhi Bay
provides great views of the gulf islands and the city.
Walking tracks take between 40 minutes and two hours, exploring native forest, WWII
gun embankments, Maori sites and lookouts. If you can't bear to leave, there's an idyllic
beachfront
campsite
(
09-301 0101;
www.arc.govt.nz
; adult/child $13/6)
with flush toilets
and cold showers.
It's possible to get here via a torturous two-hour bus trip from Albert St. The one-way
fare is $10.30, so it's best to buy a $16 Discovery day pass. An alternative is to take the
development of matching townhouses, a marina, country club and golf course. Enquire at
the ferry office about picking up a bus or taxi from here. Alternatively, walk or cycle the
remaining 3km to the park. The ferry is a good option for cyclists wanting to skip the
boring road trip out of Auckland; carry-on bikes are free.
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Orewa
POP 7400
Locals have fears that Orewa is turning into NZ's equivalent of Queensland's Gold
Coast, but until they start exporting retirees and replacing them with bikini-clad parking
wardens that's unlikely to happen. It is, however, very built-up and high-rise apartment
towers have begun to sprout.
