To the east of Auckland you’ll find the beautiful  Pohutukawa Coast – a wonderful mix of rural and coastal life that reaches around from Whitford to Clevedon.

Pine Harbour Marina.

First stop on the Pacific Coast Highway is the country village of Whitford, the ‘Gateway to the Coast’.  This is ‘serious’ horse country with a very active pony club, stables and stud farms gracing the landscape.  The village is a service centre for the surrounding farms and life-style properties, while supporting two cafes, a restaurant, service station, florist, speciality gift shops and,  when weather permits,  the third Saturday of the month sees the ‘Whitford Market’ burst into life.

The Whitford Country Club offers a picturesque 18 hole golf course where visitors are very welcome;  the ‘Whitford Bird Garden’  is a must to visit,  as is one of New Zealand’s best known private gardens ‘Ayrlies’.

The Whitford Bird Garden is owned by renowned New Zealand, wildlife, artist Blake Twigden who has combined his love for nature and his knowledge of plants and birdlife in the construction of this spectacular and stunningly colourful piece of utopia.

Within the garden is a walk-in free flight aviary showcasing some of the most exotic birds you will ever see in New Zealand, a heated pool that is home to tropical fish from the Amazon, not to mention the hundreds of native, subtropical and tropical plants that have now matured and form the backbone of this garden.

Shelley Bay Beach.

Meander further along the coast and you will find Beachlands- a seaside settlement,  bound on two sides by the sea. The settlement was first developed in the 1920s, subdivided into 870 sections,  marketed as the ‘Marine Garden Suburb’, and its initial development was mainly that of weekend baches.

Today  Beachlands Village offers a small but busy retail centre, and is the main centre for the immediate and wider communities.  The community also supports a decile ten school, various pre-school facilities, a chartered club, .a new medical centre and pharmacy, a police station. and a much valued volunteer Fire Service and First Response Team.  A recent addition has been a monthly market.   Nearby ‘Pine Harbour Marina’ operates a ferry service which commutes to and from the city daily, along with services to Waiheke and Rakino Islands each weekend.

The Pohutukawa tree studded coastline of Beachlands has three small but very safe popular swimming beaches - Sunkist Bay, Shelley Bay and Green Bay - along with a jetty, boat ramp and children’s playground.

Formosa Golf Resort offers a challenging PGA standard international golf course with stunning panoramic views of the inner gulf.  The resort offers luxury accommodation, an international food and wine restaurant, along with conference facilities and sports complex all of which are available to the public.   

Maraetai Beach.

The settlements of Omana and Maraetai face north and are sited on either side of a headland, with the land rising quite steeply back from the foreshore to offer spectacular views stretching from Auckland City to the Coromandel Ranges.  Maraetai was a very early European settlement dating back to 1838 and like Beachlands was subdivided in the 1920s.  Omana’s major housing developments followed after a large subdivision in the late 1950’s.

The name ‘Omana’  has been shortened from O-Manawatere, (meaning ‘the dwelling place of Manawatere’) from the name given to the Ngai Tai pa site, now part of Omana Regional Parkpark. 

 The Maori name ‘Maraetai’ means ‘meeting place by the sea’.  The settlement has been well named for the meaning still holds true today as many families flock to this beautiful part of The Pohutukawa Coast to swim, picnic, fish, or just walk the beaches.

From Maraetai you can drive along several kilometres of unspoilt coastal scenery to reach  Umupuia, also known as Duder’s Beach.  Opposite the beach is ‘Umupuia Park’, a  Maori cemetary and marae.

The Duder family have farmed in this area since 1866. The original homestead, Rozel, is named after a house on the Channel Island of Guernsey, where Mrs Duder had lived as a child.  Umupuia is the heartland of Ngai Tai, the tangata whenua of this particular section of the coast.

Clevedon Village.

If you follow the coast around you will come to the stylish inland village of Clevedon with  perfect green pastures, beautiful scenery, friendly people and old-fashioned hospitality. Lush rolling countryside leads the way  to the stunning Hunua Ranges in the south and blends gracefully to the sea at Kawakawa Bay and Orere Point to the east.

First stop in Clevedon Village is the Clevedon Gallery and Information Centre, where friendly staff can answer all your questions. 

Packed with gifts and art created by local artists as well as items sourced from all over the world, the building itself is over a hundred years old. The wine room offers an extensive range including many that are locally produced.

Clevedon is rapidly developing a reputation for its exceptional wine and food.  Its climate and fertile soil are the perfect components to grow grapes capable of producing full flavoured red wines like Merlot. Award winning Twilight Vineyards is open throughout the summer season and every weekend throughout the year. 

Clevedon Village offers numerous stores including the iconic Clevedon Woolshed with exceptional quality knitwear. 

Kerry and David Foster recently took over the very popular Clevedon Chocolate Shop – home to handmade mouth watering chocolates to tempt even the most self disciplined.  

Leave the rush and bustle of the week behind and join the friendly atmosphere of the Clevedon Village Farmers’ Market on Sunday mornings.

Several members of the Rural Living team live on The Pohutukawa Coast – so keep your eyes open and make sure you say hi if you spot them!