Visit my Village: A local's guide to Whananaki

Published on 08 December 2025

Take the road less travelled this summer! While Whangārei is full of wonderful activities, events and restaurants, there's plenty to discover in the small villages spread throughout our district.

Whananaki locals and owners of the Whananaki General Store, Dallas and Donna Gurney, share their favourite tips, tricks and titbits about their village, Whananaki.

Here's some fun facts about Whananaki...

• "The Whananaki footbridge is the longest in the southern hemisphere at 395 m."

  Where to find it: Park outside the community hall (grab an ice cream from the store) and follow the track that runs alongside the school.

• "Whananaki has its own radio station - Whananaki FM - broadcasting local information 24 hours a day."

  Where to find it: Tune into 88.2FM

• "Motutara Farm has been in the same family - the Barrons - for over 100 years. It features a nostalgic Kiwi campground across three amazing beaches and we reckon it's the best around. Reminds you of your childhood, hard-out."

  Where to find it: 42 Rockell Road, Whananaki North.

• "We are on the Te Araroa trail, so thousands of walkers from all over the world visit and stay in Whananaki each year."

  Where to find it: The Te Araroa Trail spans the length of New Zealand, and runs through the centre of Whananaki, including the footbridge.

My three must-do activities in Whananaki are...

1. Walk the bridge - it's what we're famous for! Head over to the south side and see one of our most beautiful surf beaches. Often there'll be nobody on South Beach - it's pretty special.

   Where to find it: Cross the footbridge and either walk along Whananaki South Road to Te Ara O Tunua Road, or turn left off the bridge and walk along the beach until you meet Whananaki South Road.

2. Visit the Capitaine Bougainville Monument - it's a great walk with a lot of meaning. About 40 minutes from the general store, the monument recognises the 1975 Capitaine Bougainville disaster which killed 16 people.

   Where to find it: The memorial is accessible at low tide only. From Whananaki South, turn left onto Te Awa O Tunua Road, then follow Pukekawa Road until you reach Grahams Bay, then follow a steep path (Google Maps) up to the monument.

3. Have fish and chips at Moureeses. Grab some kai from the greatest general store in the world and eat them at the beautiful Moureeses Bay, a tranquil white sandy beach with great surf and safe swimming.

   Where to find it: Moureeses Bay is a ten-minute drive from Whananaki North via Rockell Road (Google Maps).

My favourite walk is...

"The walk from Whananaki to Sandy Bay is brilliant and showcases the best of Northland's east coast."

Where to find it: The Whananaki Coastal Walkway is a 5.85km track that is accessible via Pukekawa Road in Whananaki South and McAuslin Road in Sandy Bay. The walk requires moderate fitness and will take approximately three hours (one way)

The best place to grab a coffee and bite to eat is...

"Well, I can honestly say Whananaki General Store. Not only because our local Turning Point Coffee is local and delicious, but because we are the only place to get coffee! Our whitebait fritters are legendary, and we are often told our burger offering is the best in the North. There are great local pop-ups over summer, including a food truck at Otamure Bay and plenty of fresh produce stands."

Where to find it: 2162 Whananaki North Road, Whananaki North.

My favourite family-friendly activity is...

"We simply adore Whananaki South, its old-school waterfront baches, lonely pine forest with a secret cemetery in the middle of it, and what we think is the most beautiful beach in the country. It's long, with pristine white sand and often you can be the only one on it - it's pretty magic."

Where to find it: You can access Whananaki South on foot via the Whananaki Footbridge and Te Ara O Tunua Road. Via car, turn off at Hikurangi and follow the Twin Coast Discovery Highway and Whananaki South Road. It is approximately a 50-minute drive from central Whangārei.

My favourite restaurant is...

"We like Ziggy's Pizza in the summer. Being the only shop in town, a bit of variety in the menu is always good and Ziggy's does the most delicious stone-baked pizza."

If you're looking for local products, don't go past...

• "Heaven's Brewery in Marua, the best brewery around. We're super proud of Ben and the team as they were big winners in the New World Beer Awards this year."
• "Murray and Nikki at Hydro Healthy provide us with all our salads and produce throughout the year, alongside the guys at the Whangārei Growers Market. And all our meat comes from OMAK Meats."
• "Our fave tipple at the moment is Al Brown's Tipping Point wine (he's a local) and Papaka Road Gin from Beth and Mike down the road in Tūtūkākā."
• "Our coffee comes from Stu at Turning Point Coffee at Abbey Caves and the best honey in the world comes from the hives at Whananaki School! We sell it at General Store."
• "The Marua Markets in summer on Friday nights are the best, especially when Ben and the Heaven's Brewery guys are there."

You should visit my village because...

"With a hall, school, library, shop and great food joint, Whananaki's village may be small, but is perfectly formed! We are world-famous with the longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere nestled in behind our village and spanning the most beautiful estuary in New Zealand, plus three top surf beaches are just around the corner."

One final recommendation...

"Before we became business owners, we didn't appreciate how important it is to always support local. It's a big deal to small businesses; we understand that now being one ourselves. That support really matters. And so now we always prefer to support a local operator over big business. So, if we were to recommend anything it would be that! Go small or stay home!"

Thank you to Dallas and Donna from the Whananaki General Store (and, as of late 2025, the Whananaki Holiday Park) for sharing their local insight.