Wenderholm, Warkworth & Mahurangi

Thursday 25th April
We woke to a blue sky and sun at Wenderholm Regional Park - a great spot where you can stay just one night although we were the only vehicle there. Len took his fishing rod for a walk down to the mouth of the river at 7.00am but walked it back a couple of hours later without it even getting a bite. A bit shallow out there I think. By then there were quite a few cars and boat trailers in the park. We walked the hour or so Loop Track (Maungatauhoro Te Hikoi) which includes a fairly steep climb up to the Couldrey House (built in 1868 and now a museum) Lookout giving great views of the Puhoi Estuary and the house before continuing on through the forested headland - a really nice walk on a well-formed path. From there we continued on along the beach and around the river mouth, where Len had been fishing, back to the bus.

Arghhhhhhh!!!

After replenishing the groceries in Warkworth we found our way to the Warkworth Golf Club where we were just in time to play 18 holes before darkness set in - we ended up behind a group of 4 Asians so the last 5 holes were pretty slow but we weren't in any hurry. The course was nice to play - quite hilly and the greens took some getting used to - so fast!! Our last 2 games had been at Te Puke which was pretty rough on both the fairways and the greens as it had just been cored so there was no run of the ball. At Warkworth the ball ran for miles ( are we ever happy?!) but we eventually got the hang of it.
We stayed the night in the carpark but sadly couldn't have a shower at the Club because of the water shortage. We didn't even fill up our water bottles as the water was warm and yellow.

Mahurangi Peninsula was the next spot to explore, the first stop being Sandspit with its beautiful views across Kawau Bay to Kawau Island. Lots of cars and vehicles with boat trailers already in the carpark as there are good fishing spots out from here or you can catch the ferry for a trip to the island.

View from Sandspit harbour

We stopped and admired Snells Beach - a nice safe spot for young families to swim - and then Algies Bay which is where you would live if you had a boat and a tractor to launch it with, 3 boats being launched with tractors as we did our turning around manoeuvre so we could continue on to Scandrett and Mahurangi Regional Parks.

T @ Mullet Point with white knuckle syndrome!

There is an historic house and historic farm buildings as well as a few different walks at Scandrett Regional Park - just a small parking area compared to the other parks we have been to. We did the hour long Mullet Point Loop which goes through farmland along the cliff edge to the Point which is the nearest you can get to Kawau Island from land. It's a rocky headland with outstanding views of Kawau as well as numerous other smaller islands in the Hauraki Gulf. We then drove a bit further on to the Maharangi Scenic Reserve before heading back and further up the coast.