And the dog came too... dog walks in New Zealand
  • Home
  • Introduction
  • Notes for Users
  • Alarums and Excursions!!
  • South Island
    • North-West >
      • Atua Stream Walk
      • Barnicoat
      • Ben Nevis
      • Botanical Hill
      • Boulder Bank
      • Brooklyn
      • Collingwood Beach
      • Collingwood Cemetery
      • Cotterell Road
      • Dellside
      • Dicker Road
      • Dominion Flats
      • Eves Valley Road
      • Faulkner Bush
      • Grampians
      • Great Taste Trail - Richmond
      • Great Taste Trail - Kohatu
      • Great Taste Trail - Wakefield
      • Hacket Valley
      • Hoddy Estuary Reserve
      • Hoddy Road
      • Kawatiri Rail Tunnel walk
      • Kina Beach
      • Maitai Valley
      • Mapua Headland
      • Marahau Beach
      • Marahau Forest
      • Mead Stream
      • Milnthorpe Forest
      • Motueka Inlet
      • Motueka Spit
      • Pakawau Beach
      • Paton's Rock
      • Paynes Ford Tramline Track
      • Pearse Valley
      • Pohara Beach
      • Rameka Creek
      • Red Hills
      • Ridgeview Road Walkway
      • Robson Reserve
      • Rough Island
      • Sharlands
      • Split Apple Rock
      • Stagecoach Road
      • St Arnaud Loop Walk
      • Tahunanui Beach
      • Tantragee
      • Tasman View Road
      • Teetotal
      • Two Rivers
      • Waimea Fish-Out Ponds
      • Waimea River Trail
      • Wairoa River Left Branch
      • Waiwhero Forest
      • Waiwhero Ridge
    • North-East >
      • Archer's Track
      • Blairich Reserve
      • Cullen Creek
      • Cullen Point
      • Davies Bay Track
      • Esson's Valley Tracks
      • Goulter River
      • Grovetown Lagoon
      • Half Moon Track
      • Kotuku Trail
      • Lake Chalice
      • Link Trail East
      • Link Trail West
      • Lower Wairau
      • Mount Baldy and Mount Royal
      • Mount Barrett Walkway
      • Mount Fell
      • Mount Fishtail
      • Mount Richmond
      • Mount Riley
      • Mount Robertson
      • Mount Stokes
      • Mount Takorika
      • Ngakuta Bay
      • Nydia Track
      • Opouri Bridle Track
      • Patutu Walk
      • Pelorus Track
      • Piwakawa Track
      • Rarangi
      • Sawcut Gorge
      • Snout Tracks
      • Taylor's Valley
      • Tirohanga
      • Wairau River
      • Wakamarina Track
    • West >
      • Alborns Track
      • Big Rimu Tree walk
      • Charming Creek
      • Chasm Creek
      • Coalbrookdale
      • Denniston Historic Walkway
      • Denniston Plateau
      • Gentle Annie Point walk
      • Goldsborough Tracks
      • Haast-Paringa Cattle Track
      • Kawatiri Beach Trail
      • Kawatiri River Trail
      • Kumara Community walks
      • Lake Hanlon
      • Larry's Creek
      • Mikonui River
      • Millerton Bathhouse Track
      • Moeraki Valley Track
      • Mokihinui Stopbank
      • Mount Adams
      • Mount Glasgow
      • Mount Haast Route
      • Murchison Tree Walks
      • Murray Creek
      • Old Ghost Road
      • Porika Road
      • Powerhouse and Lookout Walks
      • Progress Water Race
      • Ross Goldfield Walks
      • Skyline Walk
      • Stafford Bay Loop
      • Wanganui River
      • Whataroa Walks
      • Whitcombe Loop Tracks
      • Whitcombe Valley Track
      • Zig-Zag Track
    • Central-North >
      • Balmoral Lookout
      • Bottle Lake
      • Cheviot Hills Reserve
      • Childrens Bay Farm
      • Craigieburn Forest
      • Culverden Domain
      • Diamond Harbour
      • Ellangowan Scenic Reserve
      • Garden of Tane
      • Godley Head
      • Governors Bay
      • Halswell Quarry
      • Hanmer Forest Walks
      • H W Hart Arboretum
      • Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia
      • Kaikoura Trail
      • Kowai Bush Reserve
      • Kowai River
      • Lyttleton Coastal Walk
      • Lytteleton Hills
      • McCleans Forest
      • McHughs Forest Park
      • Mears Bush
      • Mount Grey
      • Mount Oxford
      • Mount Richardson
      • Mount Thomas
      • Newton Falls
      • Ngaio Point
      • Panama Rock
      • Pegasus Bay
      • Rakahuri River
      • Sign of the Bellbird
      • Sign of the Kiwi
      • St James Conservation Park
      • Tutakakahikura Scenic Reserve​
      • Victoria Park
      • West Melton Forest
      • Woodills North
      • Woodills South
    • Central-South >
      • Ahuriri East Branch
      • Ahuriri Valley Tracks
      • Ashburton River
      • Benmore Peninsula
      • Centennial Park
      • Cowan's Hill
      • Dingle Burn
      • Double Hill
      • Freehold Creek
      • Greta and Dorcy Tracks
      • Gunns Bush
      • Hook Bush
      • Huxley and Hopkins Valleys
      • Kelceys Bush
      • Knottingly Park
      • Lake Emma walk
      • Lake Emily Tracks
      • Lake Hood
      • Lake Ohau Track
      • Lake Opuha Walk
      • Lake Tekapo Lakeside Walk
      • Lake Tekapo Regional Park
      • Lake Wainono
      • Lower Opihi River Track
      • Macaulay River walk
      • Methven walkway
      • Mount Barrosa
      • Mount Sunday & Mount Potts
      • Opihi River Walkway
      • Orari River Mountain Bike Tracks
      • Pareora River
      • Pioneer Park
      • Potts River Walks
      • Quailburn Track
      • Saltwater Creek
      • Snowy Gorge
      • Talbot Forest
      • Temple Valley Tracks
      • Waihao River
      • Waihi River Walk
      • Waimate Creek walks
      • Waitohi Bush
    • South-East >
      • Alexandra Anniversary Walk
      • Arawata Bridle Track
      • Arrow Gorge Loop
      • Arrowtown Millennium Track
      • Bannockburn Sluicings
      • Bob's Cove and Twelve Mile Delta
      • Boundary Creek
      • Bull Creek
      • Bullendale Track
      • Butcher's Dam
      • Central Otago Rail Trail
      • Chrystals Beach
      • Clutha Riverside Track
      • Commissioner's Track
      • Conroy's Dam
      • Cromwell-Pisa Walkway
      • Crystal Battery
      • Deans Bank Track
      • Diamond Creek Track
      • Dunedin Walks
      • Earnscleugh Tailings
      • Flagstaff Hill
      • Frankton Arm Walkway
      • Gabriel's Gully
      • Gibbston River Trail
      • Gladstone Track
      • Glendhu Bay Track
      • Glenorchy Boardwalk
      • Grovers Hill
      • Hawea River Track
      • Huriawa Pa Walk
      • Kanuka Loop
      • Lake Alta Track
      • Lake Hayes Trail
      • Lakeside Walk
      • Leith Saddle
      • Long Beach
      • Mapoutahi
      • Mosgiel Floodbank
      • Mount Cargill
      • Mount Crichton Loop
      • Mount Iron Track
      • Munro's Gully
      • Naseby Forest
      • Nevis Valley Tracks
      • Newcastle Track
      • One MIle Creek
      • Oteake Conservation Park
      • Outram Glen
      • Quartz Reef
      • St Bathans
      • Trotters Gorge
    • South-West >
      • Blair Athol Walkway
      • Boyd Creek
      • Manapouri cycleway
      • McLean Falls
      • The Bluff
  • North Island
    • Auckland & Waiheke
    • Coromandel & North Waikato
    • Wellington
    • The North
    • Manawatu & Wairarapa
    • The East
    • Taranaki & Central
  • Useful Links
  • Progress Water Race
  • Rock and Pillar Conservation Park
  • New Page
  • New Page
  • New Page
  • New Page
  • New Page
  • New Page

Hatea River Walk, Whangarei

A shady and varied path, through mixed bush, beside the burbling Hatea River

Download pdf

Hatea River

This walk starts at the small grassy domain just behind the Elliott Street aquatic centre, where a gravel track leads us to a boardwalk, which then winds through the mangroves flanking the Hatea River.  When the tide is right, we might see the shadowy stripes and shapes of gurnard between the projecting roots.  People in this part of New Zealand tend to have a low opinion of mangroves, and in several places there’s a strong call from boaters and fishermen to have them removed.  In reality, however, the mangroves are there because of the volume of sediment being washed down the river – inflated in some cases, no doubt, by the clear-felling of large areas of forestry in the catchment of the river.  And once there, the mangroves do a good job.  They trap and bind the sediment, so that it doesn’t sweep out to the coast and change the balance of erosion and deposition on the beaches.  They also create rich ecosystems that harbour young fish and other animals, and help to sustain the wildlife in the shallow estuarine waters.  

At the end of the boardwalk, we do a dogleg left 300 metres down Ewing Road, then right along a small trackway and up a short flight of steps between houses, then left again for 50 m or so down Vale Road.  Where this ends, there’s a sign to the scenic reserve, and the comforting symbol of a man walking a dog (it’s always good to know that we’re welcome).  The walkway continues down a short slope before entering the bush, then rises and falls again, down to the river.  We follow this, with glimpses across to the grassy terrace of Mair Park for another two hundred metres or so, past signs of the eel which mark the track, until we come to a pedestrian bridge over the river. 

This is a good place for a quick breather, standing on the bridge and watching the river slide rather reluctantly toward the sea, and the ducks perching on the rocks, as though afraid to get their toes wet.  The park is also well worth a diversion: there’s a loop track through a woody area which includes a scattered grove of kauri.  And it’s the best spot on the walk for a picnic, as well as the last real chance for a while for the dog to have a paddle.  But the main walkway veers to the right, away from the bridge, and heads briefly uphill, before curving left again to follow the stream. The bush is thick now: fern trees, nikau and white pine in profusion. A few of the more notable trees – a rimu here, a kauri there - have nameplates, though they were obviously put there some years ago for they seem to be sinking into the trunks, and aren’t always easy to read. And the river seems more vociferous, burbling away to our left as it picks its way between the boulders. 

For the next 2 km or so, we continue like this, ignoring the temptation of the side-paths to our right (from which dogs are banned, though there are no signs to tell you).  The path undulates: here over a low bluff, there along a short section of boardwalk at the head of gullies or the base of a cliff, then down at river level again, by a broad slow-moving pool where kids sometimes swim.  Then, suddenly, the bush opens out and we enter a grassy glade, at the far end of which is Whareora Road.

Here, if you want, we can turn right and follow the footpath for a kilometre or so, until we come to A H Reed Memorial Kauri Park.  From there, a couple of loop tracks lead through bush (in one place on a raised boardwalk, almost at canopy level), while the main path winds on up-valley for another 2 km to the majestic Whangarei Falls.  However, all this is off limits for dogs – so you’ll need to come back another time to complete this section of the walk.  Instead, it’s probably time to turn round and make our way back. As we go, it's worth looking out for some of those tiny treasures that we missed on the way out.  The fern-shadows feathering the track, the face cut with a few quick strokes in the ponga trunk by the path, the knots of epiphytes and strands of lichen on the trees across the river.  


Summary

Location: North side of Town Basin, Whangarei (across Riverside Drive).

Access: Elliott Street carpark, off Riverside Drive; alternatively from Mair Park or Waioroa Road.  

Length: ca. 3.5 km (one way)

Configuration: There-and-back (with side-tracks in Mair Park)

Grade: Gently undulating; gravel surface; waymarker - an eel

Status: on leash 

Cafes and restaurants: Several cafes on marina, ca. 400 metres south of Elliott Street 

More information: Whangarei walks.  Available from Whangarei District Council: 
http://www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages/ HateaRiver.aspx
Picture
If you've found this website helpful, you might also want to look at some of my novels and poetry. These, like my dog-walking, are drawn from a love of nature and the countryside. To learn more, click here.