About | Okura Bush Walkway
The Okura Bush Walkway is a lovely 3-hour return walk that goes through bush, along the estuary and stops off at a beautiful beach. You can either walk the whole thing or choose to end at the beach, which is around midway, and return the way you came.
Start the Okura Bush Walkway at either end. From Duck Creek Road you’ll walk along the estuary, along grassy areas and up into the bush until you come down to the beach. If you don’t want to walk up the hill go along the rocks instead – this can only be done at low tide. Close to the start of the track you’ll also find a great tree that can literally walk all the way through. Great for the kids. Be on the lookout and you should be able to find it!
If you start at Haigh Access Road you’ll cross a bridge then head into the bush where you’ll get a good workout. The track winds its way through the bush, going uphill, then down and there are a few flights of steps, too, but it’s a good walk. Then you make your way up an extra grilling part where there’s plenty of steps, get to the top and you’ll be rewarded with views of the beach below. Good job!
Note: The track does get muddy in winter.
Tip: there are optional low tide tracks along the way – check the tides before you go.
Nearby
Location
You can start the Okura Bush Walkway at either end. Park up at the end of Duck Creek Road in Stillwater or at the end of Haigh Access Road, off the highway.
Photos
The Okura Bush Walkway is pretty close to home for me so as a young adult I used to come here a lot and walk from the Haigh Access Road side which was my way of exercising without having to sign up for a gym membership. It holds quite a few memories for me and I feel like I know each curve and bend of the track. I’d work my way to the top and launch myself down the other side of the hill. The steps start soon after and the last ones up to the viewpoint over the beach really killed me. I’d slowly make my way to the top, find a step to sit on and take in the view while catching my breath. This was before the place started being developed but I watched as they started to lay down the roads, the first house popped up and a few more followed and I thought the view just wouldn’t be the same after that.
This time with the kids in tow, we decided to walk along the other way, starting at Duck Creek Road. Just a week before while fishing off the wharf at Weiti River we saw people fishing and walking on the other side of the river and decided we had to go check it out for ourselves. It was during lockdown, Level 3, when we were allowed to travel locally but there were still a lot of people staying home, around wintertime.
We had just started off on the Okura Bush Walkway when we saw a tree with a few planks of wood nailed to it and went off to check it out. And boy, was it awesome! Climb up and you can literally walk inside and around, it was that big. Easy to say, the kids loved it. There was a swing hanging off the tree on one side, as well.
Finally heading off (we stayed at the tree for some time) and the track got grassy and really, really muddy (not pictured). And it wasn’t just a little bit of mud, we ended up coming away from it with shoes completely covered in it. It was hard to go around and avoid, bringing gumboots may be the way to go? Or perhaps coming when it’s all dried up? It was an experience for us, anyway. And it was quite funny, there were a couple of jandals and a pram that were left to the side of the track, obviously someone had given up and decided to fully experience the mud. Needless to say, the track isn’t appropriate for prams, more so in winter.
We reached the part where you decide whether to take the stairs or go along the rocks. The boys wanted to walk along the rocks and since it was low tide we went that way and came back the other. Coming back, it was muddy yet again but this time it was hard to stay up straight because it was so slippery going down the hill. Still, we had lots of fun and thankfully, did it without slipping over (though there were some very near misses).
Dacre Cottage
Reaching the beach we slowed down our pace and gathered up seashells and explored the area. We found a grassy place to sit by the stream and brought out the snacks. The kids played in shallow water, floating bits of wood down the stream and seeing which one was fastest. Moving on, we wandered around the big red house then stopped at a bench where we all played a simple yet really fun game of who could stay on the bench the longest without falling off. Lots of fun and laughs we almost forgot the time but realising it we quickly made a dash for home, just in time for dinner.
