We were enjoying staying at the park – and having it mostly to ourselves mid-week in July. And the weather was nice and we had nowhere else particularly to be. And the walks were doing us good – there are a number of interesting 1-2 hour walks. So what were we to do? We stayed put and made the most of it. On our fourth day we headed off later in the afternoon on a circuit walk. This took in a popular fishing spot at the Pink Beach. The tide was right in so there was no chance of seeing what was pink about anything but it was easy to see why the fishers liked it. It is a nice big ledge with not much chance of rogue swells. Further on the track goes through a bit of lovely old coastal forest, before meeting the boundary with the DEFENCE AREA with signs in all-capital letters that suggested someone with big authority shouting loudly.
Steps Down to Pink Beach Fishing Rocks – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Pink Beach Under Water – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – Rangitoto in the distance
Wyn on Fishing Rocks at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Exquisite Tiny Shell Groupings – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – Rangitoto Beyond
Wyn in The Enchanted Forest – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Wyn Still in the Enchanted Forest – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Defence Department Sign – Almost All Capitals – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
More Recent Defence Department Sign – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – not all capitals and some nice simple direct language – much more understandable and effective methinks
Running the Gauntlet – Trying to Get Past the Little Lambs Without Becoming a Vegetarian – Shakespear Regional Park AucklandThe next day we made a slightly more organised visit to the Pink Beach and this time were able to walk on the sands which are indeed pinkish. With the tide out we were able to follow the shoreline back around to our campground at Te Haruhi Bay.
Tide Out at the Fishing Rocks at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Rock Formations at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Rock Formations at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Wyn at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Rock Formations at Pin Beach Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – Beyond Little Barrier Island
Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
A Weirdly Weathered Rock on the Beach at Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – looked like a seal to me
The following day was sunny and warm and calm. One of those days to be enjoyed for itself. A day for sitting around and making some progress on the Saturday Herald newspaper. A day for opening everything that would open to air things out. We even got all our lounge squabs outside into the sun to air. Later there was time for a walk, back to the fishing beach. What with the lambs everywhere, the mild weather and lots of Spring flowers out; it wasn’t feeling much like Winter at all – July or not.
Te Haruhi Bay – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland – beyond Long Bay on the North Shore
Our nearest neighbour coming ashore for his morning walk – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Saturday walkers at Te Haruhi Bay – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Open Up Our Hearts and Let the Sun Shine In – Wyn and Suzi enjoying the sun at Te Haruhi Bay Campground – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Te Haruhi Bay – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Fishing Men at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland
Fishing Shags at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park AucklandGallery of photos – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland July 2013
Click on thumbnails to see full size. (And then you can click through them)
We will be visiting New Zealand in Dec 2018 and have heard about the curved rock formations like you showed in the picture titled, “Rock Formations at Pink Beach – Shakespear Regional Park Auckland”. My husband is a scientist and has used a photo of those rock formations in his geology classes. Now realizing that is close to Auckland where we will be visiting for a couple of days, we’d love to personally go there and see this. Since we’ve never been to Auckland before I’d love it if I could get more information from someone like you who has actually been there! From what I read timing has to be just right due to tide waters. How far of a hike is it, and how feasible is it to get a taxi from Auckland to take us to the location where we could see this?
Thanks for any help you can give us!
Hello Grace. Sorry I’ve taken so long to respond. We’re busy exploring England at the moment, so not much time for catching up on blog things. Yes, you do need to get the low tide. There would be some leeway I guess. I can’t remember exactly how far, but have a look at the map here which shows the whole Tiritiri Track as a two-hour (4.8km) walk and you could shortcut to Pink Beach significantly from the carpark. So 2 hours would give you some time for stopping and looking around. It’s quite a way from Auckland Central to the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula and you’d be best to google that part. I am sure it’s feasible to get a taxi; it’s just a matter of how much. Depending on how much time you have, I suspect there’d be public transport options, again you could try google maps. Also you could enquire of the Auckand Council, their contact details are at the bottom of this webpage. Also there might well be other formations like this elsewhere on the Auckland City coastline. Maybe the Auckland Council could help you with that as well. Other formations might be quicker to get to. Mind you the Shakespear Park is well worth a visit for any reason. Good luck with your quest.