Optional Extras
- Pitt Island tour ($360 per person) - full day
- Rental van hire - $135 per day + fuel
- Packed lunch - $25 per day
- Continental breakfast at the hotel - $20
- BBQ at Admiral Farm - $45
- Seafood buffet at kaingaroa - $50
Available Walks (all with a tour guide)
Wharekauri Walk
Spectacular views around coastal cliff tops created by ancient volcano activity and further sculptured by the wind and sea
Distance: +/- 12 kms one way from the beginning of the track to Splatter Rock and Oyster Catcher reserve area on the beach at Mairangi.
Time: 6.5 hrs total walking time, 8 hrs from hotel return.
Features: moderate to hard walking, initially across pasture land, then moderate to hard grades with some hill climbs along the coastal cliffs
Ranga Ika Walk
Breathtaking views of the southern coastal cliffs plummeting 200m into the sea and across Pitt Strait to the islands. Also great views north across Te Whanga Lagoon to the volcanic basalt cones to the north.
Distance: 5km from the bus to the reserve, 8km down Gillespie Creek Valley to the Owenga road
Time: About 3.5 hrs walking time
Features: Easy to moderate walking on 4WD farm tracks. The eastwards walk along the cliff tops is undulating with a few boggy patches and from the reserve is downhill apart from one short section where you cross Gillespie Creek and climb up to the track
Nikau Bush Scenic Reserve
This area protects the largest stand of Nikau remaining on the main Chatham Island. The Nikau flower during December and January.
About 1.5km past Blind Jims Creek, a sign marks access to the reserve. Go through the gate and follow the fence line for about a km. The track begins at the information panel and travels in a loop through the forest beneath stately palms.
Time: 1.5hrs return from the road on a well-marked and formed track. Some sloping terrain
Henga Scenic Reserve two hr bush and dune walk
This reserve has it all regenerating broadleaf forest, limestone outcrops, sand dunes and great views of Petre Bay
Access to the track is via Chatham Lodge admire the view of Lake Marakapia on the way to the start of the track.
Turn left at the first and second forks and continue to the limestone crops and sand dunes or turn right for a short bush loop.
From the limestone, carry on down the dunes, follow the track north, turn inland back through the bush back to the start.
Time: 2hrs long loop track, well marked and mown, some steep and uneven
Okawa Walk
The wind-swept north-eastern coast is a historically significant part of the Kaingaroa area
Distance: 10km one way from the beginning of the track around Okawa Point to Mission Bay. A further 2km from Mission Bay to the Point Munning Seal Colony
Time: 5 hrs total walking time, initially across pasture land, along the beach and around the rocky Okawa and Mission Bay
Features: Easy to moderate walking, initially across pasture land and around the rocky Okawa and Mission Bay headlands