Child's view of Kennedy Park

Spent a few hours wandering around the much improved Kennedy Park with its fabulous climbing rope adventure playground, and brand new steps leading down to the Castor Bay back beach. The park has superb views across the Hauraki Gulf, and you can walk along to Rahopara Pa, where you can still see evidence of gardens and kumara pits dating back to the early 1800s. There’s a petanque court on a lower, sheltered part of the park, new members welcome!

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Little Shoal Bay, between Northcote Point and Birkenhead Point, is a little backwater and somewhat untouched part of the Shore. With its delapidated boat sheds, overhanging pohutukawa trees and views across the harbour to Auckland city, it’s a romantic spot to share an early evening picnic, amble around the rocks and watch the busy world from afar. Summer days are just gorgeous here and the swimming is good at high tide. There’s a playground to keep the littlies happy, or you can launch a dinghy and take a leisurely row around the inner harbour. The Harbour Bridge looks completely different and really interesting from this angle.

A Milford beachfront home, designed by architect John D’Anvers, is one of approximately 55, high profile New Zealand properties being showcased by Harcourts Cooper and Co to the international market at the World Expo in Shanghai, China, in August 2010. The elegant, five bedroom home has been owned by the same family since it was built approximately ten years ago, and is now being offered for sale on the open market. Tucked discreetly away from the road, the home sits in an elevated position at the Black Rock end of Milford beach, with sweeping views of the Hauraki Gulf and islands, and the beach and ancient lava rock formations just beyond the bluestone wall.

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Tony and I have kayaked to Rangitoto on 2 occasions – once in tandem kayaks  and then in our own individual kayaks, and I can really recommend it for a great day’s outing. If you’re not feeling super energetic, then grab a mate and go tandem. It’ll take roughly 45 minutes to get across to Rangitoto (watch out for big boats as you cross the channel). While it’s great to do this during the summer months, and have a swim when you get to the island, the winter days are often sunny and settled, and the trip can be just as satisfying.

You must take a picnic lunch and plenty of water with you, and relax on the beach when you get to Rangitoto (there are no shops!) We generally walk to the top and enjoy the views over the Hauraki Gulf. It’s a pleasant walk and can round off the day very nicely.

If you’re new to kayaking, and you don’t own one, you can hire a kayak from Canoe and Kayak North Shore (based in Constellation Drive) and you can even take kayaking lessons from them if you want to build up some confidence first.

Stand Up Paddling (SUP) is the latest thing in waterbased sport and recreation and it’s growing in popularity as punters realise the health benefits as well as the joys of this pursuit. What better way to enjoy a beautiful day on the North Shore than to paddle a long board around the bays? You can do it any time of year (some of the most beautiful, calm days are in the middle of winter), and you set your own pace.

Mark Jackson is a local boy who has spent the past 25 years perfecting and competing in this sport all over the Pacific. He has set up a business importing the special boards for SUP, and you can check out the goods on offer on his website. Mark has recently written an article on SUP in the first issue of Channel magazine which gives a good insight into the sport.

Taking anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to walk, the coastal pathway from Milford Beach to the boat ramp at Takapuna is well worth the time. Taking in Black Rock, Thorne Bay and NZ’s only example of a fossil forest, the walk is a fascinating geological landscape.

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