Te Haruhi Bay, Shakespear Park

Shakespear Regional Park sits at the end of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula behind a predator-proof fence, and Te Haruhi Bay is the campground inside it. You are on grass a few metres from a sheltered swimming beach, with a working farm on one side and regenerating bush on the other. Pūkeko wander through the sites as though they own them, which functionally they do.

Because it is a sanctuary, the birdlife is well beyond what you would expect this close to Auckland — and the walking tracks up onto the headland give you views back over the Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto and out to Tiritiri Matangi.

It is around forty-five minutes from the city and books out on summer weekends, when half of Auckland has the same idea. Midweek and outside the school holidays it is quiet. Gates close overnight, so arrive before dark.