Tutukaka Coast

On Wednesday April 17th, we went down to the Tutukaka coast to explore. This is a pristine area on the east coast, about an hour and a half south of us. We first went on the Whangamumu Bay - Ngunguru Estuary Walkway. The only problem was, I don't think we ever actually found the walkway. The description online stated you should go around low tide as it is a coastal walk and some areas are only accessible at low tide. Well we went close to low tide and looked in many areas for the start of the track. We eventually just followed the rocks around the beach and had a really enjoyable hour climbing from one rocky outcrop to the next. We don't know what the right way was, but we liked our way. After our rocky adventure we continued on the road to the Tutukaka Headland Lighthouse Walkway. This spot was so amazingly beautiful. The water was gorgeous, the land was amazing, there was no one around, and it was a challenge to get to. We had to walk down a steep set of 180 steps to cross over a rocky spot connecting the mainland to a little (but very tall) island where the lighthouse and lookout were. It was a steep climb up the island trail, but once we were to the top it was worth it. It was such a nice lookout over the Pacific ocean and the Tutukaka Coast. The lighthouse at the top was small, but served an important purpose. It was all run on solar energy which is great to see. We sat and enjoyed for awhile before heading back down. We weren't in a rush knowing we had to hike back up all those steps and a hill on the other side. We made it back to the car and hit the road. We drove up the coast and stopped at a great surf spot, Woolleys Bay, and watched the action for a few minutes. The waves were big and clean and the surfers were certainly enjoying themselves. Tutukaka Coast was a great day and one of the more peaceful, desolate day trips we've gone on.