New Zealand’s best loop walks

If you're looking for some beautiful loop walks this summer, travel writer Peter Janssen has you covered.

Onekawa Te Mawhai regional park, Opotiki, Bay of Plenty

"It has got everything, you start off walking up through the bush, it's not a steep hill, and then you get to this little open area, and locals have planted out plants which are special to that area, that are only from that Eastern Bay of Plenty.

"Then you go up to the first pa site that's Onekawa, and it faces west over Ohiwa Harbour, the views are stunning."

This is an easy, one-and-a-half-hour bush walk, he said.

"There's a glow worm dell where an enormous pōhutukawa shades a small cliff down which water trickles through lush mosses."

Ohinetonga Scenic Reserve, Owhango, King Country

This easy, 45-minute return walk takes in the Whakapapa River, where there are some good swimming holes.

While heavily milled in the early 20th century, much native bush survives, he said.

"The beauty of the bush along the river and around the small Ohinetonga lagoon was recognised early and was created as a reserve in 1921 without being milled."

The track meanders through dense bush to a huge old totara tree then drops downhill to a lagoon where a boardwalk crosses still waters entirely enclosed by dense native bush.

"Quiet, calm and completely protected by huge trees, this is a particularly beautiful spot."

Tawa Walk, Manawatu Gorge

A busy and popular track with locals, visitors "just miss it," Janssen said.

One of the best walks in the Manawatu, and part of the longer Manawatu Gorge Track, this is a medium 90-minute walk.

"Taken anticlockwise, the first section of the track passes through fine tawa forest with lush groves of nikau palms and several huge rimu, there are QR codes along the way allow you to listen to native bird calls.

Travis Wetland Circuit Walk, Christchurch

"This is a huge area, a wetland, and through the earthquake, it became shallower, but wetter. But it's got a huge number of birds, I think, 50 species, 35 native birds."

This easy, flat, 90-minute loop is in Burwood, the wetland is gradually being restored with an energetic planting and weed-removal programme.

There's even a bird hide for serious bird watchers, he said.

Farewell Spit - Inside/Outside Beaches, Golden Bay

"You start off the walk on the inside, and it's so calm and shallow. Then you cross across some farmland, and you go to the outside beach, which faces the Tasman, and you've got this wild, beautiful beach.

"There are fossils, you might see penguins, you might see seals, it's beautiful."

An easy 90-minute loop located within Puponga Farm Park, a working farm at the base of the spit that acts both as a buffer to preserve its delicate ecosystem and as an area of outstanding beauty in its own right.

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