Starting at the Eastern most point of this area – the tip of Whangaparaoa peninsula is the remarkable Shakespeare Park.

A circuit makes an easy afternoon’s walk, and the views of the islands and all the land surrounding the Hauraki Gulf are spectacular. The northern half of the end of the peninsula is active defence land, and still off-limits. There are camping facilities and a Youth Hostel beside and overlooking Haruru Bay.

Whangaparaoa Peninsula is blessed by a wonderful range of fine sandy beaches, many of which still have elderly baches close by. It has always been a popular holiday spot, but today the Northern Motorway has brought it to within easy commuting range of Auckland. At the newest development on the peninsula, Gulf Harbour, there is a large marina, and an even larger Golf Course.

An early morning ferry runs from here to downtown Auckland every weekday morning, and returns in the early evening. This offers a welcome alternative to people only going up for the day. There are also frequent services to the Island reserve of Tiritiri Matangi, and even Coromandel. Tiritiri  holds one of the larger populations of rare Takahe, as well as Bellbirds and Kokako.

The last thirty years have brought enormous amounts of development to Whangaparaoa – residential in particular, but also a certain amount of light industrial, particularly in the centre, cinemas, and retail at the Mall. Two brand new schools have opened in the last five years – the private Wentworth College down at Gulf Harbour, and Whangaparaoa College, both primary and secondary.

Orewa will probably always be thought of in terms of its magnificent broad, straight, sandy beach. The township and surrounds have grown considerably in the last few years, mostly as a result of the motorway. In fact, particularly at weekends severe traffic jams began to build up in the town with holiday makers heading north. Much of this has now been avoided by the continuation of the motorway as a Toll Road to Puhoi. 

Orewa is currently the headquarters of Rodney District Council who have a large office block next door to the 400 seat Centre Stage Theatre.  The town is now dominated by ‘The Nautilus’ a multi-story residential tower block, that in plan is the shape of a streamlined fish. It is a mixed development, with roof gardens, swimming pool and garaging, and contains both owner occupied and serviced apartments. The town is not short of retail space, and there is an extensive collection of good cafés and restaurants available. 

Silverdale is the oldest settlement in the area and is now quite an important shopping area. The town is split by the highway – the western side is retail, and the eastern side, stretching down the Weiti river has extensive light manufacturing areas.