We were looking for an afternoon walk for the family and came across a map at the tourist office offering a whaling station.
After driving out from Russell, we started the walk by crossing a farm and then wandered into some bush as we started to climb – so far a fairly typical walk for New Zealand.
On reading the ridge, suddenly from a break in the trees at the top of the climb we could finally see our destination: a beautiful bay bathed in the late afternoon light all to ourselves except for a solitary sailboat anchored at the far end of the bay. We descended on to the beach through a sea of grass, which was magical.
If you go through the Bay of Islands and want to get the legs moving I totally recommend this short hike.
The scenery is superb but don’t expect to see the early twentieth century whaling station as nothing obvious is left behind!
Voyagista’s Tips
- It is about 2 hours to 2h30 walk return depending on your fitness level, our walking group ranging from 3 years old to 70 walked it without difficulty. For further information click here
- Fantastic light illuminating the harbour at the end of the day
- Use the parking area (for a small fee) in front of the house just before the start of the walk to alleviate any safety concerns about leaving the car unattended
- On the way there you go up across a ridge and then fairly steeply down to the beach so make sure to relax on the beach a bit before making the return ascent.
- The start of the walk is a 30 minutes drive from Russell in the Bay of Islands
VOYAGISTA 
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