[ColeyNZ]

Hi everybody,

We are thinking about taking a weekend trip up to the Rodney District and I was wondering if anybody has any recommendations for things to do? We are going to the Waiwera Spa and we are going to go and see what the beaches are like as well.

Also, what neighbourhoods are nice?

Cheers,

Dan

[Helsandfamily]

One of the things we like to do when we visit Weiwera is to visit Wendelholm reserve which is a 2 min drive from the hot pools. It has a nice beach and estury and a historic home that you can have a look inside and some nice nature walks. We tend to take a picnic to the hotpools and then eat in the reserve area and spend some time playng in the woods or on the beach. My only warning to you would be is to take insect repellant. We were there on the weekend and I got bitten quite badly.

As far as areas are concerned I have a friend living in Silverdale which seems very nice, and Orewa seems to be a nice size town. (sorry this is the limit of my knowledge) but I have not heard anything negative about it.

In hindsight I wish that we had considered Rodney before buying a house, because the area's seem nice and you get bigger plots of land which is what we wanted when we moved.


Hope this helps

Hels

[Alan]

Love Orewa and certainly an option in my opinion if you are oka with travelling a little for big shops and maybe sporting events etc for kids. Having said that I have two colleagues coming into the CBD on the bus each day and it only takes them around 45mins.

[Kerry and David]

We live in Red Beach and love it up here. Orewa is one of my favourite beaches - long and sandy. Orewa has enough banks/supermarkets for every day shopping. For bigger malls and shops we head to Albany which takes about 15 minutes down the Motorway. We can get to Auckland CBD in 30 minutes - longer in rush hour but the bus service is good for regular commuters.
Approx 20 minutes north of Waiwera you can go to Matakana which has some individual shops and a good market on a Saturday morning, a little further on you have another good beach - Omaha.
We are lucky to have a number of good Regional Parks in the area including Wenderholm and Long Bay. Have a look at this link for further info:
http://www.arc.govt.nz/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/wenderholm/
Most of the parks have nice bays and good walking tracks.

We enjoy going to Hobbs Wharf Market on a Sunday morning at Gulf Harbour it is very small but does have some individual stalls selling art, local produce etc. After the market we head to the centre of Gulf Harbour for brunch by the waters edge, they normally have some bands playing :)

For eating out Rock Salt restaurant at Orewa has a good reputation (haven't eaten there yet!) I have been to Hola - Mexican. The food was average but the Margaritas were excellent:cheers

Enoy your trip up here and let me know if I can answer any more questions for you:nice1

[Ngeru]

There's also Shakespeare Park at the very end of Whangaparoa Peninsula, lovely at this time of the year with all the little baa lambs.

http://www.arc.govt.nz/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/shakespear/

You should also explore towards the west around Kumeu and Muriwai

http://www.kumeudistrict.co.nz/

[Wiltshire_Dave]

I like the sound of Red Beach. I will be commuting to the Naval Base in Devonport when we arrive next year - any ideas what sort of a journey this would be? Time/Distance etc?

I don't mind getting up early to beat the rush!!

Dave



We live in Red Beach and love it up here. Orewa is one of my favourite beaches - long and sandy. Orewa has enough banks/supermarkets for every day shopping. For bigger malls and shops we head to Albany which takes about 15 minutes down the Motorway. We can get to Auckland CBD in 30 minutes - longer in rush hour but the bus service is good for regular commuters.
Approx 20 minutes north of Waiwera you can go to Matakana which has some individual shops and a good market on a Saturday morning, a little further on you have another good beach - Omaha.
We are lucky to have a number of good Regional Parks in the area including Wenderholm and Long Bay. Have a look at this link for further info:
http://www.arc.govt.nz/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/wenderholm/
Most of the parks have nice bays and good walking tracks.

We enjoy going to Hobbs Wharf Market on a Sunday morning at Gulf Harbour it is very small but does have some individual stalls selling art, local produce etc. After the market we head to the centre of Gulf Harbour for brunch by the waters edge, they normally have some bands playing :)

For eating out Rock Salt restaurant at Orewa has a good reputation (haven't eaten there yet!) I have been to Hola - Mexican. The food was average but the Margaritas were excellent:cheers

Enoy your trip up here and let me know if I can answer any more questions for you:nice1

[Kerry and David]

I like the sound of Red Beach. I will be commuting to the Naval Base in Devonport when we arrive next year - any ideas what sort of a journey this would be? Time/Distance etc?

I don't mind getting up early to beat the rush!!

Dave

We have friends who live in Devonport. It takes us about 30 minutes to get there off peak. You could probably do it in a simular time if you avoided the rush hour.

Regards

Kerry

[doowrehsij]

Hey guys,

I thought I would jump on this thread as a couple of you are from the hibiscus coast!

We're down in Milford/Tackypoo at the moment but I love the open space up in Orewa / Red Beach. I was dreaming of a younger warmer house, with a little more open space and Orewa seemed to fit the bill... we have got a little boy now (17 months) but couldn't really get a feel for there being many young families up there.

What are your thoughts on the area? (and again, sorry to deviate from the thread!)

[grady bunch]

Also go up a bit further to Mahuranga (great beach and park), we were there paddling on Sunday when 4 dolphins appeared at our legs, Wow, still can't get used to that one!! Once we realised they weren't Sharks we all got very excited and started running towards them, my 9 yr old was wetsuited and swam out to them, but then we saw babies so had to back off a bit!!

Puhoi is not far from there, lovely little town with great pub and fish'n'chips. Lots of families at Orewa for the same reasons you mentioned, cheaper more land and great schools. We are in Torbay renting and have been eyeing up a few places up that way but love the schools here so may just stay put!

[Kerry and David]

Hey guys,

I thought I would jump on this thread as a couple of you are from the hibiscus coast!

We're down in Milford/Tackypoo at the moment but I love the open space up in Orewa / Red Beach. I was dreaming of a younger warmer house, with a little more open space and Orewa seemed to fit the bill... we have got a little boy now (17 months) but couldn't really get a feel for there being many young families up there.

What are your thoughts on the area? (and again, sorry to deviate from the thread!)

We are very happy here. We enjoy the beach and outdoor life. We like the fact that we have really good beaches but are close enough to the City if we need it.
Red Beach is 5 minutes from Orewa so either areas are fine. We live next to the Golf Course in a heated newer style home. There are lots of new houses being built at Orewa, especially along Grand Drive. Also the Kensington Park development that went bust a year ago has now been brought and work will commence again. There are a number of Kindys, Playcentre, Music groups, Rhyme Time at the library, Mainly music and Orewa playgroup on a Monday (term time) so plenty for younger children. My younger child goes to Orewa Primary and the older one to Orewa College, we are pleased with both schools. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
Thanks

Kerry

[ColeyNZ]

:nice1 Thanks for all of your great responses. :nice1

We just did a quick drive up this weekend and LOVE Dairy Flat. I see why Caroline & Dave picked up a section there. We are going to be going back up here shorlty... I unfortunately have to fly back to the US for a bit but we'll be back here before we know it.

Dan