The beautiful Kendall Bay beach is well worth a visit and wonderful for kids, as it has a tire swing, and lots of room to picnic. Dogs are off leash though so if your kids are dog nervous be aware of that. I recommend going back up the Brian Norton Track rather than attempting the Swamp loop if you have the kids with you.
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| Kendalls Bay |
Swamp Loop- Grade Medium difficulty due to steep stairs and poorly maintained track, Reasonable level of fitness required, DO NOT ATTEMPT AFTER RAIN, as track is clay. The loop is only 1.5km. But make sure to wear very sturdy shoes, preferably with a good grip. The track it's self hasn't had any metal in a long time, and if you go down the Brian Norton track then try to use the loop back to entry, there is no warning for the steep stairs. However, in the Kaipatiki Local Board's favor they have put a sign at the top of the stairs which is also when you will see metal on the track again. I have written and requested better signage for this whole area, (November 2019) as there are several points in the track where it looks like a path should be blocked off and it's not.
Track to Lookout- Steep stairs, very poorly maintained, do with great care as some of the track has slipped away.
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| View from the Lookout Track |
So this track. This track inspired this blog, why? Because it's a wonderful walk! However, it is terribly maintained, not advertised, and at times, very confusing as to where you can go.But it is a great one for fitness, with more steep stairs. However quite a lot of this track has also washed away, been left to clay due to the winter weather, so your need to be careful climbing both up and down. The track at the lookout have several little off shoots that don't lead anywhere, and at one point it looks like a proper fork in the track, so signage really needs updating. As you initially turn off to the look out there is this:
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| Weird track signage? |
Which looks as though it is supposed to be blocking off another track, but it's really clear. So I haven't explored this bit yet, however have emailed John Gillon at the KLB to question if that is it's purpose.
