Auckland holidays: Top tips for end of summer activities in East Auckland

Omana Regional Park occupies the headland separating Beachlands from Maraetai. Photo / Getty Images

In the final instalment of this short series, Peter Dragicevich surveys the best options for stretching out summer, with a guide to outdoor activities in east and south-east Auckland's seven regional parks.

Omana Regional Park occupies the headland separating Beachlands from Maraetai. It takes around 45 minutes to get here from the CBD and the instant reward is a sublime view over the Hauraki Gulf islands, with the city skyline just peeking through in the distance. There's a lovely beach but, if you're after a swim, you're best to time your visit around high tide or you'll be squelching through mud halfway to Waiheke. The 2.5km Perimeter Track skirts the well-defined trenches of a cliffside Ngāi Tai pā before delving into native bush edging the mangroves of Te Puru Creek.

The next park is a 10-minute drive away, on the other side of Maraetai, but, if you're coming from the city, it's usually quicker to exit the Southern Motorway at Manurewa and head through Clevedon. It's a much nicer drive, too, sidestepping suburbia within a few minutes of the offramp. Duder Regional Park occupies a pistol-shaped peninsula taking aim at Pōnui Island. At its barrel end is another Ngāi Tai pā, with a trench separating the terraced fortress from the mainland. At its peak it must have been a formidable sight. These days Duder is a peaceful spot for a picnic, with access to beaches for high-tide swims.

Although it covers the next headland to the east, you'll need to backtrack through Clevedon to reach Waitawa Regional Park – and indeed all the remaining parks. If you're coming directly from the city, allow 45 minutes. This cape incorporates three smaller peninsulas, each capped with a pā site. It's popular for family-friendly swims, sea kayaking, mountain biking and horse riding, and the wharf usually has more than a few souls wistfully watching their fishing lines.

If you continue east along the coast, you'll quickly traverse the beachside settlement of Kawakawa Bay. The main route to the Firth of Thames cuts inland here, but if you continue along the coastal road for 4km you'll come to Tawhitokino Regional Park, literally at the end of the road. Facing out to sea at the crest of the Firth, this park's main drawcard is its lonely white-sand beach, backed by regenerating native bush.

The Hunua Ranges represent the largest expanse of native forest in Auckland, covering 250 square kilometres. Photo / Getty Images

Backtrack to Kawakawa Bay where the road to Miranda heads through hills for 10km before reaching the turnoff for Ōrere Point, 3km down the road. I'd wager that only a tiny percentage of Aucklanders have heard of, let along visited, this isolated seaside settlement and yet it's home to about 350 people and the smallest of the city's regional parks. There's no car park or even much signage, but a 10-minute track at the end of Howard Rd leads through native bush to a boat ramp and a beach with a swimming pontoon. Keep an eye out for weka.

The last of the coastal parks is only 3km past the Ōrere Point turnoff and it's a real beauty. Isolated Tāpapakanga Regional Park gazes at the Coromandel Peninsula from a pebble-strewn beach. These days it's probably best known as the site of the Splore Festival, but ancient stone garden mounds and the remains of a pā speak to a long history of occupation. There's also a sweet late-Victorian cottage which once multitasked as a farmhouse, one-room school and post office.

Of course, we've left the biggest and most well-known natural gem to last. The Hunua Ranges represent the largest expanse of native forest in Auckland, covering 250 square kilometres, about 70 per cent of which is included in Hunua Ranges Regional Park. A visit can be as easy as the popular five-minute stroll to the Hunua Falls, or you could spend an entire day hiking, horse riding or mountain biking.

It's incredible to think that such wilderness lies within a 45-minute drive of the Sky Tower, but Auckland really is blessed with an abundance of natural beauty right at its doorstep – with its network of regional parks providing public access to the best of it.

For more travel inspiration, go to newzealand.com/nz.

Check traffic light settings and Ministry of Health advice before travel at covid19.govt.nz