Kawau Bay Foreshore Fandango
Saturday 21 November, 9.30am Duration: 5.5 hours.
$39 TBC - includes bus transport.
Grade 3
Limited to 30

Firmly in the category of Walks Worth Doing, this one takes in the well known stretches of foreshore between Martins Bay and Brick Bay, linked by the less visited sections of beautiful unspoilt bush and rock shelf headlands which link them all. It offers fabulous coastal views (weather gods willing), fascinating glimpses of Māori and early Pakeha settler history, and, of course, the bonhomie of a day spent with fellow walkers. You could do this yourself, but it’s easier and more fun with us!  We’ve organised the tides and a bus to take us to one end and pick us up at the other.

The bus will drop us off at Martins Bay car park and we set off northward along the beach, up through the bush on to the cliff top loop path with its wide views over the Hauraki Gulf. A short downhill section takes us into Scandrett Regional Park where we can pause to take a look at the historic Scandrett farm buildings, dating back to 1864 when George and Helena Scandrett from Ireland settled there, established their farm and built along with the agricultural sheds, one of the first Kiwi concrete dwellings.

We continue along the beach to the north end and traverse the rock shelves at the headland to Goldsworthy Bay. Goldsworthy itself is privately owned and may remind you of the coastal settlements as they were in the middle of last century. More rock shelves at the northern headland take us Algies Bay. Somewhere along this stretch, we find a pohutukawa to sit under for our lunch stop.

Heading north again we reach Snells Beach and head up to the Brick Bay Winery for a well earned refreshment.  

Please note that this is not a walk on Kawau Island, it’s on the mainland, overlooking Kawau Bay. We expect to see various shore flora and fauna. Oyster catchers, dotterels, bell birds, tui, kereru and Kookaburra are just some of the birds we are likely to see or hear. Sometimes orcas and dolphins are seen off these beaches.

You should come with strong walking shoes or boots with good grippy soles, and walking poles are useful for the various rock shelves, some of which below the hide tide mark can be wet, muddy, slippery or sharp. Much of the rest of the walk is on good tracks, but there are some stretches of uneven ground across paddocks.

We can’t wait to show you this beautiful bit of coastline.