Epic beach camp, amazing scenery, old tunnels and one slippery track - Kiwi Rd, Meremere Rd and more

Daniel sets out on three days of exploring the hidden gems in the Whanganui/Taranaki area. Between the beaches, Meremere Road (where things go a tad wrong), the "most expensive road to maintain" Kiwi Road and the other gems, it's a pretty amazing place to spend a weekend!

Trip area

In this video

Bulls to Turakina

A soft beach run that skips past SH3 on your way to Wanganui. Best not tackled alone unless you're used to being on the beach - was one of the harder beach runs we've done.

Be sure to head through at low tide - at high tide, you'll be trapped by a creek crossing full of salt water.

Grade
Medium
Time
2 hours
Distance
24 km

Kauarapaoa Road

Wind your way through the hills out the back of Whanganui. Allow a few hours to explore some of the side roads too.

Keep an eye out for logging trucks, sections of this road are fairly narrow!

Grade
Gravel
Time
3 hours
Distance
80 km

Waiinu Beach Campsite

New Zealand the way it was. Situated right on the beachfront, unpowered sites are available with room for motorhomes. Toilets and a children’s playground are provided. Note: There are no kitchen, laundry or shower facilities available at this campground.

An easy walk to the beach (less than 5-minute) and about 8km away from Waitotara township Maximum stay of 50 days Strictly no hooking to water supply Dogs are allowed on leads and under control at all times We encourage you to take your rubbish away with you

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0
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Patea Dam

Cruise inland from Patea along an amazing gravel road and explore a power generating dam. The free campsite at the end of the road has hot showers and would be an awesome place to spent the night.

Grade
Gravel
Time
1 hours
Distance
35 km

Meremere Road

Head high up into the hills above Patea Dam on a slippery clay track.

This track changes a lot when it's wet - goes from a medium to a hard pretty quickly.

Closed over winter.

Grade
Medium
Time
2 hours
Distance
15 km

Kiwi Road

A stunning scenic drive through the hills - Kiwi Road is one of the countries most "expensive to maintain" roads due to the very limited traffic volume vs the amount of work required to keep it open.

Features one of Taranaki's famed tunnels.

Grade
Gravel
Time
1 hours
Distance
17 km

Moki Road

Link Moki Road up with Kiwi Road to skip a section of highway and enjoy a simple cruise through the hills.

Grade
Gravel
Time
1 hours
Distance
6 km