Coopers Beach - Doubtless Bay

From Whangarei we headed further north to Coopers Beach in the Doubtless Bay, so named by James Cook on his first South Pacific voyage in 1769. He recorded it as “doubtless a bay” or so the story goes.

On our way out of Whangarei, we stopped at the Quarry Gardens, built in an old stone quarry that had operated from the 1940s till floods in 1974 closed operations. The quarry was donated to the regional council, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that a garden was proposed. A great site for a tropical garden, protected by the sides of the quarry and warmed by the sun drenched rock walls. It’s a small garden but a wonderful reuse of the space. Damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 can be seen at the end of one of the walkways. There’s a waterfall and a small lake at the end of the garden, but with such a dry summer, the waterfall was less than impressive.

From here we headed for Kerikeri, to hit another real-fruit ice cream stand, the Keri Berries Farm Store. Best ice cream we’ve had, great coffee, some fruit for breakfast and delicious ginger snaps. There are more places to see in Kerikeri and we’ll see them on our way south in a few days.

Sanctuary in the Cove in Coopers Beach is the next stop. Bruce Abraham bought this property in 2002 and undertook a multi-year, massive transformation of the fields into a tropical garden, inspired by the existing old pōhutukawa trees that lined the bay. By 2008, he’d added a house for himself and 2 small cottages for guests. A short walk through the trees (and a wheelbarrow to carry your luggage) and you come upon a lovely sea view and a small, but comfortably sized cottage. The little shallow bay in front of the cottage is backed by a rock ledge and at high tide is a good place to take a dip. At low tide, you can walk out in the sand to the rock ledge, but don’t stray too far towards the mangroves on the side of the bay, it gets very muddy and squishy, sucking my flip flops off my feet.

From here we walked Coopers Beach and had wonderful fish & chips at Fresh & Tasty in Mangonui. This isn’t the “world famous” fish and chips place in Mangonui, it’s the little hole in the wall place at the side of the hotel, recommended by friends who had visited the area. Yum!

We did 2 short walks in the immediate area. The Taumarumaru Scenic Reserve Walk is on the rocky headland at the end of the little cove where we were staying. The headland contains 3 Māori pa, or defensive sites, and archeological evidence of living sites and storage pits. It was too hot a day for me to make it to the tippy top, but we enjoyed sitting beside the shady stream that eventually emptied into a stand of mangroves at the south end of our cove. The nearby Rangikapiti Pa walk was a bit easier, we did climb to the top there for some great views over the area.

And finally, I needed a real beach trip. Taking the long drive out to tip of the Karikari Peninsula, I had my eyes set on Matai and Waikato Bays, twin bays divided by a rocky barrier. We walked the full length of the Matai Bay checking the waves and watching how others were faring in the water. I don’t really like to swim alone, but Doug isn’t a swimmer. (Where were my brothers and my father when I needed them to test the waters for me?) After watching others enjoying the very protected waters next to rocky headland dividing the bays I finally got in the water. Warm, crystal clear, turquoise water, gentle waves, a very shallow slope to the sand, the perfect place to float and swim. I think Matai Beach is my top beach at the moment!

Annoyingly, as we were getting ready to explore the next bay, I did some damage to my foot and we had to hightail it back to town to find a doctor to fix it up. Thankfully the local GP practice was still open and even though they said they didn’t normally take international patients, the nurse practitioner kindly took care of me. Good thing since the nearest hospital was a few hours away.

One more trip to Fresh & Tasty and we were off to Opua. Was really sad to leave the seaside and wasn’t sure what to expect at our next Airbnb high up in the bush outside Paihia.Read more