Smugglers Bay Loop Track

THE BEST WALK WE HAVE BEEN ON IN NORTHLAND!!

22 JULY 2022

Incredibly clear water at Bream Bay Beach

Bream Heads Scenic Reserve

We're not exaggerating when we say this is THE BEST walk we have been on in the North Island! Seriously, tell us where a better one is and we will happily do it.

The Smuggler's Bay Loop Track is out on the beautiful Bread Heads (Te Whara) Scenic Reserve in Northland. It's an easy 3km walk that takes you through the countryside, around hills, along the cliff side and to some of the most incredible beaches we have ever been to! The reserve contains the largest coastal broadleaf forest in Northland. From the moment you step out of your car at the Urquharts Bay car park, you are hit with amazing views.

We had seen a few photos of the track before we went and we knew it was going to be great, but of course photos never do things justice, so we didn't know how beautiful it actually was going to be.

It's home to many birds that are thriving on the reserve, including the North Island robin (which was reintroduced to the area in 2016), kiwi, karariki, kaka and bellbird.

The view from the Urquharts Bay carpark

The start of the track

The reserve the only place in New Zealand that you will find the Bream Head Skink

The ocean views aren't the only stunning thing to look at on the hike

Let's Gooooo!

The start of the track is on a dirt track that takes you along the beautiful green countryside, while a rocky hill towers above. We really wanted to climb up there as the views would have been amazing, but we knew we already had a bit of a hike ahead of us, so we decided to keep moving on.

The track was easy but be mindful that you need to step over some small rocks and go around some muddy parts of the track. You will also probably meet some cows and bulls along the way - they are harmless and will just avoid you (and will probably laugh at you if you step in their poo!).

We were constantly wowed by this part of the track; it was insanely beautiful and we had only just begun! It's hard not to stop every 2 steps to take a photo of everything infront, behind and beside you.

The grass in the reserve was such a vivid green

This part of the track was particularly muddy where the cows had been walking, so we walked up the hill a bit on the grass

There are so many photo ops along this walk

WWII Gun Emplacements

There came to the gun emplacement area and saw a few concrete buildings scattered around the hillside. Probably the most important building is the BOP or Battery Observation Post. You are able to go inside which is pretty amazing as you get to soak in a little bit of history.

During WWII, building coastal defences was a priority and a huge task. The emplacement complex was cleverly designed to look like a farmhouse with out-buildings. The 'house' was the armoury and accommodation for the officers and the BOP was disguised as a rocky outcrop. The gun emplacement blended in with the hillside because the soldiers used a camouflage net to disguise it.

Inside the BOP were small and thin windows along 3 of the walls, which gave the soldiers in WWII a panoramic view of the harbour below. In 1942, soldiers painted a mural just above the windows, which showed a snapshot of the Whangarei Harbour and also symbols to aid with semaphore signaling which allowed those directing fire, to quickly estimate the bearing of a sighting.

Art conservators restored the painting in 1995 by cleaning the surface, consolidating the paint layer and touching up areas where the paint was lost. The building has been made weather-tight by using polycarbonate windows and a door, to protect the mural. In the right-hand corner of the mural, the armoury and offers accommodation has been painted but disguised as a farmhouse. This mural is one of the last military murals left in New Zealand.

Interestingly enough, the Bream Head gun only every fired 3 tests shots, one of which travelled 12 miles!

We had a really friendly cow come by to see us and Sienna named her Daisy (I think most cows we have seen now as called this!). We spent ages checking out the buildings and the area surrounding them. The view was amazing here and we didn't want to leave!

There's always one (or two) who have to graffiti on something

It's hard to imagine this was once an active WWII military site

View from inside the BOP

Kids Can Earn Real Medals Just By Finding This One Thing...

As we were leaving the gun emplacement area we saw a Kiwi Guardian message on a post with a special code. We had never seen these posts before on any walk we had been on, so we were intrigued. Each post in different areas around NZ has a unique code on it, which you can enter into a form on the DoC website, along with your kids' details, and they receive a medal in the post! We have written a full blog about it - click here to read it.

The next part of the track took us through coastal bush. On a hot day, this is a great place to get some reprieve from the sun!

The girls enjoyed climbing on rocks and looking for natural fairy houses. The track on this part is even and well maintained. We kept seeing glimpses of the ocean and we were so excited when we came to a clearing and had the most amazing view of Bream Bay Beach! It was just the beginning of amazing views.

The gate we climbed over to get to our next part of the track towards Bream Bay

The track is well maintained and offers shade from the sun

This is where Bream Bay Beach comes into view

Bream Bay Beach - Ish

Man, oh man. Where do we start with this one? The views across the bay are absolutely spectacular and with the water being so crystal clear, you can see everything in the ocean from this high up! We kept saying how it felt like we were in Hawaii because of the clear water and the thick, green coastal bush.

The girls were so excited to head down to the beach when they saw it from the cliff and even more excited when they got closer and saw that it was a rock beach! Kids and rocks, a?

View of Bream Bay Beach

Look how clear that water is!

Absolute paradise

We Found Paradise

This beach was amazing! There were so many rock pools to explore and we even saw an octopus! Lath spotted it right near the shore, so I raced over with my phone and stuck it in the water so I could get a video and photos (as someone forgot to bring the sim card for the Gopro hmmm, not pointing fingers at anyone *cough* Lathem *cough*).

We had so much fun at this beach and we were so sad to leave it. I think Bella would live there if she could! We have written a whole blog post about Bream Bay Beach which you can read about here. It's unnamed on the map be sure to read all about it!

A curious octopus

This is the perfect place to snorkel

Just go there. Seriously.

Zig Zag, Zig Zag

This next part of the track is the least favourite part as it zig-zags uphill for about 15 minutes. It's not challenging, just not as fun as the track had been so far!

It's a well-maintained gravel track that is littered with rocks to the side of it and surrounded by lush, coastal bush. We were starting to feel more and more like we were in Hawaii! The kids struggled a bit on the hill, not because it was hard but because what kids actually enjoys walking up a hill for 15 minutes?

The views behind though were amazing as you could see the whole harbour from up there and each zig (or is it zag?), created an even more spectacular view. Some of the trees had twisty-turny branches and this made the walk more magical.

The zig zag path up the hill was actually really beautiful

This tree had crazy twirly branches

The view from the top of the zig zag path

The Track Towards Busby Head

Every corner you turn on this track, you're gifted with a new incredible view, which earns a well deserved WOW. I'm not sure how many 'wows' we said on the whole track but it had to be close to 200.

Even looking down the cliff, you get glimpses of the ocean below and in some parts the water is clear but also an ice blue... just amazing!

This part of the track is fairly flat and takes you out to Busby Head. We didn't do this as we just wanted to get down to Smuggler's Bay and check the beach out. It would probably only take 10 - 20 minutes return to get back to the turn off to Smuggler's Bay. It's really well sign posted so you can choose which path to take.

Smuggler's Bay, here we come!

The track did drop off either side but you are protected by a lot of vegetation. Still keep kids close by

Ah-may-zing!!!

We loved looking down the cliffside to look in the clear water to see if we could spot any marine animals

Two Paths To Choose From

The first part of Smuggler's Bay is really rocky and a perfect spot for fishing and rock pool exploring. We saw someone fishing off the rocks, so hopefully they caught some goodies for their dinner.

You can either stick to the track here and head along amongst the grass to the sandy beach on the other side, or if you're feeling more adventurous, you can walk along the bay on the rocks (depending on the tide) and head around the bay. We chose to keep following the path, so we headed up the stairs so we could go and explore the sandy part of Smuggler's Bay.

We were so lucky to have done the track on a bluebird day!

The rocks are the perfect spot for fishing

Lath is an amazing dad and always keen to give the girls a shoulder ride if they get super tired

We Have Never Seen Emerald Water Like This

After seeing that view from the top, we couldn't waaaait to hit that sand! We couldn't believe how emerald the water looked; it was absolute paradise.

There's a nice bench seat to rest on and enjoy the view (or catch your breath if you're reeeeally unfit!). Not for us though... get us to that beach NOW!

The track had some really beautiful farmland to the left, which is actually the way you head out, back to the carpark.

This has to be the best view in the world

To the left of the path is the track back to Urquhuarts Bay and the car park

Eye spy with my little eye, the Hen and Chicken Islands

Smugglers Bay Beach

I have no words for this place. Nah, I do. I have so many because it was one of the best places we have been to in our lives!

This track continuously surprised us as Smugglers was no exception. We spent over an hour here, exploring rock pools, taking photos, finding shells and Lath and Sienna even went swimming! It was autumn and the water was still cooooold but refreshing.

We had the whole place to ourselves except for curious shags and seagulls who would pop over to say hello and ask did we have any food they may possibly have?

The water colour here was just incredible and it would be a great place to snorkel. We noticed that the beach dropped off on a big angle, so it got deep pretty quickly.

You can check out the full blog on Smuggler's Bay Beach here.

Caribbean blue waters

The girls had a lot of fun playing in the shallow part here

We found starfish, lobster parts, cool shells and more

The water was warm enough to get in for a bit

After we'd explored our little hearts out at Smuggler's Bay, we set off up the trail through beautiful farmland, up hills and over cow pats. It's a part of the track where you need to keep looking back over your shoulder at how incredibly beautiful Smugglers Bay is.

It took us about 5 - 10 minutes to walk up the hill. The kids were getting tired and weren't too keen on another big hill! But they soldiered on because they are amazing and have so much perseverance. We had been hiking and exploring for over 3 hours so it's no surprise they were starting to fade.

This hike really has to be done on a sunny day otherwise the ocean would look grey and you wouldn't get forever views across the harbour. We're so glad it was sunny (and stayed sunny) when we decided to do it.

The track leading from the beach to the countryside

The track is a narrow, worn path but there's heaps of grass to walk on too

If you squint, you can spot the bench at the top of the hill where you can rest and enjoy incredible 360-degree views

360 degree views

At the top of the track, the ground starts to flatten out and your hard work is rewarded by 360-degree views! On one side you have views of Smuggler's Bay and Bream Bay, and on the other side you have views of Urquharts Bay and the Whangarei Harbour.

There is a bench seat here where you can rest your tired legs and appreciate how far you have come!

If you just want to head to Smuggler's Bay for the day and you don't want to do the whole track, then this is the way you would come from the carpark and head down to the beach. It takes around 10 minutes.

The day was getting on and ice blocks were calling our name. Lath ended up giving the girls turns at a shoulder ride. I asked but apparently I'm too big. Hey, you don't know till you ask!

Almost back to where we started!

The view from the bench seat at the top of the hill

Bella's turn for a shoulder ride

Know Before You Go

The track is 3km and takes around 1.5 hours to complete (with no stops!). We took around 3.5 hours as we explored both beaches
Take your togs and a towel for a swim at Smuggler's Bay Beach
Take a snorkel and mask to see what you can find at Bream Bay Beach
It's just a 10-minute walk from the carpark to Smuggler's Bay Beach, you just go up through the exit rather than the start of the track
Same with the walk to Bream Bay Beach, it takes only about 10 minutes to get there if you don't feel like doing the whole track
There are toilets at the carpark
Take plenty of water and food or else you'll have to try and catch some fish for your lunch
The track isn't suitable for prams or wheelchairs
Parts of the track can be super muddy after rain (we just went around them)

Mappy McMap Face

Getting There

Smugglers Bay is a beautiful 37 minute drive from Whangarei CBD where almost every turn takes you into a new bay with stunning views. TIP! Don't do what we did and get distracted and miss the turn off and head into Pataua S Road! Link into Google maps and you'll see the turn off ( right turn ) into Whangarei Heads Road

Conclusion

Like we said, this has got to be the BEST walk we have been on in the North Island. If you pick a great day to go, you'll get that beautiful reflection and crystal clear water. We 100% recommend this walk, its amazing. Just lock this in and do it!