We spent Friday night at the Athenree camp ground, and enjoyed a soak in their attractive hot pool. A local artist has made a series of beautiful mosaic panels on the pool fence, depicting local bird life.
In the morning, we drove a couple of kilometres back towards the coast, intending to explore the Bowentown reserve at the Northern entrance of Tauranga harbour. When I spotted a sign indicating a cycleway, I couldn’t resist stopping to check it out, even though we didn’t have the bikes.
It lead south along the inner side of the peninsular, ending up near the boat club. As we crossed an open grass area we found three dark, speckled eggs lying on the grass – right out in the open. Felicity later identified them as from a spur-winged plover.
The sky was looking a bit cloudy so we decided to head back to the van and drive along to explore the headland. For a bit of variety, we crossed to the seaward side of the peninsular and walked along the ocean beach.
Although the cycleway supposedly heads south from the end of Waiiti Ave, it actually extends to the north as well. all the way to the main (Emerton) road into town. This section is not mettled however, but would be quite ride-able in the dry.
The headland is actually two hills with a network of tracks on each. After lunch in the van we explored both of them fairly thoroughly. Some of these trails would be fun with a mountain bike (note to self).
