May 29, 2021
Our good friends, Louise and Jack, live at the end of the Whangaparoa peninsula (in Maori whanga means bay and paroa means whale), just north of Auckland. Their house sits on a hillside with incredible views over Okoromai Bay toward Rangitoto.
After a scrumptious lunch, we went for a walk on a windy and cool day.
We started off walking along the bay
And then crossed the wetlands to Army Bay on the other side of the peninsula.
At the end of the peninsula is the Shakespear Regional Park bird sanctuary and we passed by the fence that crosses the peninsula, protecting the birds from predators.
Army Bay gets its name from the fact that the New Zealand Defence Forces use the area adjoining the bay for various purposes, including testing their weapons. Recently, the area was used to quarantine New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders evacuated from Wuhan during the Covid pandemic in February 2020.
Walking back across the peninsula, we passed through a small manuka forest.
Manuka honey has become popular worldwide because of its medicinal quantities. Here is the small flower responsible.
We also passed by some other beautiful native plants and trees.
Finally, we came full circle, arriving back where we started at Okoromai Bay.
Mal and Lauren 