When our car arrived at the little carpark by Frost Rd Leigh there was only 1 car waiting & we thought perhaps not many coming. How wrong we were! Car after car arrived & in the end 32 WOPpers had turned up! Lee was taking this walk in place of Elizabeth. The plan was initially to carpool to Goat Island & start walking from there. However, Lee decided it was best to reverse the walk so the bulk of the cars went to Goat Island carpark & only a few waited in the small layby at Leigh. 

Firstly, a very warm welcome to I think a total of 12 new WOPpers that arrived for their first tramp since completing their course. So, welcome ladies, I hope you enjoyed today & look forward to seeing you out on the track again. 

As this walk was reversed we started off by simply crossing the road & immediately heading into the Matheson Bay bush from the top end. Lovely native bush, mature Kauri, Pohutukawa, Rimu, Totara & Kahikatea. We pass the Kohuroa stream with its swimming hole, waterfalls, more water there due to the recent rain. A lot of the boardwalks have been upgraded, lots of new handrails etc. This winds down a gravel stairway track & comes out at Mathesons Bay. Then, uphill from the beach to veer off onto a steep track with lots of giant steps to get us up high to start the Leigh Coastal Walkway. This whole area is very picturesque, beautiful homes, gardens looking amazing & stunning vistas out to sea with a perfect fine day to boot. The track along the elevated coastline has paved, gravel, boardwalk & grass sections with a short section of the path next to an electric fence! Also passing penguin nesting boxes, some hills & a number of steps to climb. Of course, photo opportunities at every turn. We had morning tea at a small bay not far into the coastal walk. Then a brief stop at Leigh cemetery to take in views of Leigh Harbour. We continued on down another walkway to join the Leigh Harbour walk. See our group pic of everyone on the walkway. 

As the tide was out, we continued up the tidal estuary across the sand flats to a road bridge on Cape Rodney road. We then had a slog up the steep hill of Cape Rodney Rd, then right into Mathesons Bush Rd until we turn off onto farmland to join the cliff top walk back to Goat Island. It was here we enjoyed a latish lunch (1.30pm) & soaked up the views all around us. Little Barrier, Pakiri, of course Goat Island & Hen & Chicken Islands in the distance. The Goat Island walkway is a gravel track which descends into a valley with remnants of coastal broadleaf forest then opens out again looking down on the vista of Goat Island, Auckland University Marine Laboratory & beyond. The actual kilometres for this walk not that long despite all our twists & turns. It seems we covered between 9-10 kms. A beautiful walk made all the better with such good weather & stunning views as well as nice bush reserves. Many thanks Lee for keeping such a crowd of us under control! 

Colleen W.

To see the photos from Colleen, click here