Visit

At the tip of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, Shakespear Regional Park has sheltered bays, wetlands, regenerating native forest, cliffs, historic places and a lookout with views second to none. It offers nice walks and beaches and is an easy 50 minutes drive from the Harbour Bridge.

Visit the Auckland Council website for more information about the Park.

The Park is an easy 50 minutes drive North of the Harbour Bridge. For driving directions use the Google map below.

Automatic vehicle gate

There is plenty of parking at each of the beach areas. To drive into the main part of the park you must pass through the vehicle gate in the fence. If you drive up slowly it will open automatically. Note that after 7pm (9pm in summer) you can drive out but not enter. PETS ARE PROHIBITED inside the sanctuary fence!

For public transport use the Auckland Transport travel planner. Buses and the ferry/bus option will deliver you to Army Bay, which is also close to the start of Waterfall Gully.

For pedestrians there are gates in the fence at the Waterfall Gully carpark, next to the vehicle gate and at the Okoromai Bay end of the fence.

For access hours please see the Auckland Council page for Shakespear.

For some clues about where and when to best look for wildlife, consult our wildlife calendar below

The pōhutukawa are in flower so watch for korimako/bellbirds moving through them, especially in Okoromai Bay.
Look for kererū feeding on cabbage tree fruit.

All the cicada species in the park (about 8 species) are now singing. The loud chorus cicada will be winding up to its peak volume.

Walk in to the Waterfall Gully glow-worms while the evenings are warm. You may also hear the cricket-like sound of newly fledged moreporks calling their parents.

Through spring and summer Cook’s Petrels can be heard flying over Whangaparāoa Peninsula each night on their way to Hauturu-o-Toī/Little Barrier Island so listen for these during the evening.

The chorus cicada, Amphipsalta zealandica, will be very loud in Waterfall Gully.

Life quietens down in the autumn. Breeding is over for birds and insect life winding down. It’s a nice time for walking though as summer’s heat has passed so explore the park and enjoy the expansive views.

Thrush song begins and continues through to December.

Cutora, the last of the summer cicadas are now finishing for the season.

Large flocks of introduced birds such as starlings and finches can be seen in the park’s open country.

Kererū are often seen in kōwhai trees through winter eating kōwhai leaves as there is little fruit available for them. Blackbird song begins and will continue through to January.

Karo is flowering providing nectar for tūī and korimako/bellbird till kōwhai flowering starts.

Paradise shelduck are nesting Aug/Sept.
Pāteke/brown teal nest in the park and young seen through to about October.

From August through to January or later listen for skylarks singing in the open pasture land. Skylarks sing continuously high in the air and are often not visible.

A small number of whitebait enter the wetland at Okoromai Bay and can be seen swimming upstream. Glass eels return to our streams at this time also.

Kōwhai starts flowering later in the month attracting large numbers of tūī and korimako/bellbirds. At the same time look for the white flowers of clematis on the bush margins.

Kererū nest mainly between September and February – watch for their breeding display involving soaring up into the air then stalling and diving earthward.

Copper butterflies seen in rough bush margin areas through to January.

Pūkeko, spur-winged plover and pied stilt chicks sometimes seen around the Okoromai saltmarsh and wetland areas.

Shining cuckoo are again in the park having returned from overwintering in the tropical western Pacific. They migrate north again in March.

Rewarewa are flowering and tūī are busily feeding on their nectar.

Shovelers are nesting through Oct/Nov

Cicadas starting to emerge and begin their summer song.

Flax will be in flower so watch for tūī and korimako/bellbirds with orange heads, a tell-tale sign that they have been feeding on flax nectar.

Pōhutukawa are coming into flower later in the month, also attracting tūī and korimako with nectar.

Kānuka (the other NZ Xmas tree) are covered in white flower.

Tūturiwhatu/NZ dotterel and tōrea pango/variable oystercatcher are nesting on Te Haruhi Bay above the high tide line so give them space.

Cabbage trees are flowering.

Pōhutukawa are at their best.

This is a good month to look at the glow-worms up Waterfall Gully. They are particularly good at the waterfall, only a 5-10 minute walk from the carpark.

Shakespear has three beaches, several walks, large picnic areas and a campground. For more information download the park map and for camp bookings go here.

SOSSI has developed a Junior Ranger booklet to keep the kids busy and build their interest in conservation. SOSSI has also produced Shakespear Explorer, a phone app which guides you on two selected walks, one of which is especially for children.

For something different, you can visit the historic “Old 1910 Woolshed” in Te Haruhi Bay. This was originally sited on the Te Haruhi back dune and was moved inland to its current location in the late 1980s. If you look at the floor carefully you can see that the building has been extended. That happened in the 1940s and was paid for by the Defence Force as part of the compensation deal for the Shakespear’s loss of land.

Inside the woolshed there are many artefacts on display from the days when this was the Shakespear’s operating woolshed. It also has many displays illustrating current park activities – a section of the pest proof fence, information about pest control, wild-life monitoring and volunteer opportunities. It is open peak summer weekends and some public holidays.

A sideways view of Shakespear's old wooden woolshed. The shed has been visibly renovated and is painted white, with cream doors. A ramp leads up to the closed doors of the shed, and a few links of the giant chain that use to tether marine mines in the Hauraki Gulf lie by the doors of the shed.
Shakespear’s 1910 woolshed.

A fun, free activity is to take a night walk along the Waterfall Gully track and explore the animals that are active at night and the beauty of the trees when displayed by torchlight, especially the ponga/silver fern.

You will need a torch, preferably with a red-light function. But any torch can be transformed into a red-light torch by fixing red cellophane over the torchlight with a rubber band.

If you have time, start your walk about half an hour before sunset and walk to the top of the track (c.1km of well-formed track) and listen to the bird song as they prepare for some rest overnight, while at the same time the ruru/morepork are becoming active and preparing for a night of hunting.

At the top of the track, if you exit into the paddock, you may catch the sun setting and possibly hear the call of a little spotted kiwi as it emerges from its day shelter to feed. As it finally gets dark start your return journey back down the track. Don’t rush, you will discover more if you take it slowly and stop and listen regularly.

The track travels alongside a stream, which is home to many eels, kōura /freshwater crayfish and kōkopu fish. Along the banks of the track and stream live the titiwai/pūrātoke/New Zealand glowworm. A good display of the glowworms can be seen on the walls of the waterfall – you will need to turn off your torch though. This is also a great place to sit and wait for the sun to go down.

Listen for the scratching noise of the tree weta, and if you are lucky, maybe spot a wētāpunga/giant wētā heading out from its day shelter to feed for the night.

It is possible to see little spotted kiwi along the track. If you hear “stomps” in the bush, stop and try and find the source of the noise – it may be a kiwi nearby. If you stay still and quiet they will continue foraging. Bright lights and loud noise will cause them to flee.

Another bird you may encounter feeding is the pāteke/brown teal duck.

We are happy to provide guided tours of the Sanctuary or give talks about it to schools and groups, and we can also suggest suitable educational activities for school groups. Please click here for more information, and here for a poster for your notice-board.

You can also go on self-guided tours. SOSSI has produced Shakespear Explorer, a phone app which guides you on two selected walks, one of which is especially for children. SOSSI has also developed a Junior Ranger booklet to keep the kids busy and build their interest in conservation.

We do appreciate reasonable notice, especially in the peak time over summer. We’d also appreciate a donation – we think $2 pp is about right. We’re a registered charity and will send a tax receipt. Thanks!

Please book by completing the form below, and then clicking the button.