December 27, 2012
The Tutukaka coast is just north of Whangarei (the city 45 minutes south of Opua) and is a great outing when you’re going between the two places. There’s a loop off the main highway, and if you just stayed in your car, you could drive it in less than an hour, but you’d miss some wonderful stuff. To really see it, you’ll have to do some parking and walking. I’d give it a good 3 hours or more.
We started from the south end of the loop, taking the turnoff towards the town of Tutukaka. The drive took us through the beautiful pastures of Glenbervie and its old stone walls. About 20 minutes later, we arrived at the small town of Ngunguru, located on a river estuary just inland from the coast. (No, I can’t pronounce it.)
We parked and walked down the beach to find the huge pohutukawa tree which leans out over water. On a sunny day, when the tide is high and the tree covered with red blossoms, it contrasts with blue-green shallow water beneath it. Today the tide was low, the sky gray, and the tree barely starting to bloom. It wasn’t the picture I hoped for, but the tree was still impressive, the place still neat to see. (If the tree looks familiar, Rich featured it in previous blog here.)–Cyndi
