Walk 12

 Saturday 12th October

Due to popular demand, we have introduced a longer walk. (Please note this walk includes sections of 4 of our individual walks)

Catch the passenger from Russell to Paihia and walk four walks in one!

The first part is the Paihia School Road Lookout.

A pleasant 2km climb to a view of the Bay of Islands. From the viewpoint, you can see the Bay from Opua to Waitangi and over the Russell Peninsula to Urupukapuka Island and Cape Brett in the distance.

The second part of the walk is the Oromahoe Traverse (no longer part of the programme), a medium to hard walk, a unique opportunity to walk this ancient trail used by Māori for hundreds of years, that runs right through the heart of the stunning Opua State Forest. Learn about the community’s mammoth effort in taking out over 11,000 pests and the explosion of native wildlife that followed, particularly the magnificent Northern Green geckos, kiwi, wood pigeons, tomtits, owls, and so much more.

The third part of the walk includes some metal road walking and the stunning Opua Kauri Walk (no longer part of the programme). The kauri walk is a short but delightful stroll, partly on a boardwalk through groves of kauri to an elevated lookout platform and bench seat. Once at the lookout, you will be surrounded by kauri trees of different ages – from young rickers up to 25 years old to more mature trees of about 400 years in age.

Returning to the road we walk down Oromahoe Road to join the fourth part of our walk – a section of the Opua to Paihia coastal walkway – which is part of the Full Circle Walk. Wonderful views of Veronica Channel can be seen here along with a stunning mangrove boardwalk.

You will feel a great sense of achievement as you catch the passenger ferry from Paihia to Russell again. After all – you will have walked around 21 km!!! A half marathon!!!