Tawharanui Regional Park hike

Medium-easy level of difficulty, won’t bother regular hikers. No stream crossings. There are a few steep sections: various terrain from farmland to walking paths to coastal.

Walking Time: 4-4.5hrs approx including breaks for photography and lunch.
Distance: 15km
Led by Helen KF. (mob 021 0282 3600) and Mike F. (027 431 9054)

Here’s the plan:
Before 9.30am - Meet Lagoon carpark, Tawharanui Regional Park. If this is full use the main carpark as you enter the park and take a 5min warm-up walk to the meeting point. Please make sure you allow plenty of time to get there as it takes approx 1hr 15mins to drive there from the CBD and longer if coming from South or West Auckland.

9.30am - Start hike
Lunch break on the beach
2.00pm – Approx finishing time

Option after to stop at the Rusty Pelican, Matakana for post-hike refreshments
Location: 1001 Matakana Road Matakana 0985

GPS location -36.372853119698746, 174.8223811565882
Getting there: Take SH1 north and use the new SH 1 route until you get to Warkworth. At the round-a-bout take the 2nd exit and follow signs to Matakana. Go straight through Matakana and follow Leigh Road until you get to the turn-off for Tawharanui which is sign-posted. Keep driving along Takatu Rd all the way to the end until you enter the regional park.

Bring - Normal hiking gear - the tracks could be quite muddy so suggest hiking boots or shoes with very good grip not just running shoes. A hat, raincoat and warm top are useful as this is Auckland and the weather can change fast. Swimming gear and towel if you are brave and want to swim. NO JEANS!
Food - Bring your own lunch, snacks, and enough water etc

Suggest carpooling. Please comment when you rsvp whether you need a lift / can offer lifts, which part of Auckland and your mobile number. It’s up to you to arrange this among yourselves. Please bring $30 cash for your drivers or make arrangements to pay them via direct bank transfer. This is to cover petrol costs (which have gone up quite a bit lately) and the toll road charge heading north which is $2.30 each way for cars. The toll can be paid online here up to a few days after the trip

If you can no longer attend please update your RSVP immediately to allow others to join. If you pull out at the last minute (After 5pm night before) or don't turn up you will be listed as a No Show. 3 No Shows will mean you cannot join an event for 6 months. This rule is in place to be fair to other members.

Be sure to read all the details before you RSVP. No guests, please get them to join our group.

Donation - Due to increased Meetup subscription costs we ask all members to contribute $2 for this hike. You can either bring a gold coin on the day or make the donation direct to our dedicated bank account:
Helen Kerslake-Forbes 06-0998-0909890-03

Any donation money remaining after our 6 monthly subscription is paid will go towards safety gear for the group.

We look forward to sharing this hike with you.
Helen & Mike