I’ve been on hikes before, but the Okura Bush Walk gets a ten out of ten on my list of top New Zealand walking trails.
Gasping at the stunning blue-green water below the bridge that disappears into the forest was a sight for sore eyes. I stopped to take a bunch of photos, and I wasn’t the only one.
The bright green ferns and giant regenerating kauri trees reached into the crisp blue sky for most of the trek while Tui’s sung among the rich colors of the Pohutukawa trees.
It was essentially Kiwi.
Looking out to Karepiro Bay.
There were two options for this trek. Walk one hour to the historic Dacre Cottage, built in the 1850s that sits on the beach at Karepiro Bay and back, or continue to follow the coastline for another hour onto Stillwater. We choose the short one, but that’s only because we ran out of water.
To our surprise, a flock of oystercatcher birds met us at the oceans edge during their egg-laying season at the first half of the track, as we continued to walk to the cottage.
When it was time to turn back, we made sure we had a breather as we weren’t looking forward to climbing all the stairs we had just finished! In the end though, our legs were burning a little, but it was hard to tell if that was because of the exercise, or the sunburn.
Definitely recommend this one!
INSIDER TIP: Bring enough water for a four hour journey. While the whole hike may not take you that long, you’ll want to stop and take a breather at Karepiro Bay. Of course, bring a camera too!
HOW TO GE THERE: The walkway runs between Okura and Stillwater. The southern entrance at Okura is accessed from Haighs Access Rd, off East Coast Rd and is 28 km from downtown Auckland.
The northern entrance at Stillwater can be accessed from Duck Creek Rd, off Spur Rd which runs off East Coast Rd. Stillwater is 35.5 km from downtown Auckland.