20-30 minute | 2km return | Golden Bay
This beach was made famous by the rock archways on our desktop screensavers, but there is more to the Wharariki Beach walk than just the archway. I decided to head up there for sunset, with tide times working out well for me at this time of the year and low tide being just after sunset.
From the car park I headed up the hill across farmland where sheep were grazing. At the top of the hill and over a style I started to drop down towards the bush line past grazing cows. After 10 minutes I was into the coastal bush, heading along a sand covered track through beautifully windswept trees. On the other side of the bush you see the track in front of you heading up to the sand dunes. It’s a bit of a slog up the sandy hill, but at the top you are rewarded with the sand dunes opening up to reveal sparking white sand in every direction. It took less than 15 minutes to get to this point and from here you could spend hours exploring in every direction.
I headed down to the beach towards the right hand side to begin with the explore the cliffs there, but as the light was starting to change I decided to head over to the archway to try and catch a reflection in the sun. To the left of the beach there are some great caves to explore, that make for good photo’s back towards the archway. I would definitely recommend coming here at low tide, as it isn’t possible to explore as much if the tide is high, so whilst the view of the archway would still be good, you would miss out on some of the fun stuff.
Unfortunately, the cloud was quite low by the time the sun came to set so I missed out on the amazing red sky sunset I was hoping for. However, I did have the good fortune of having a rainbow form as I was walking back along the beach to go home. The reflection on the water made it feel like you were looking at a full circle of rainbow which was pretty cool!
The way back to the car park is the same as the access to the beach. There is the option to extend your walk by walking along the beach and then returning via the Greenhill Track. For a longer day trip you can walk from here along the Puponga Hilltop walk which reaches all the way back to Farewell Spit and takes you across the farmland, out past the cliffs and onto the sand dunes. However, this is a one-way track, so you have to return the same way. The other good thing about this track is that it starts directly at a campsite, so is a great place to stay for a night and take time to explore. There is also a café here, which is always a bonus!
Parking: End of the Wharariki Road at the campsite. Long drop toilet available and café on site.
Overnight Options: Camping at the Road End campsite.
