Mangawhai is a quiet little beach resort, nestled between the coast and beautiful rolling farmland, about an hour and a half north of Auckland, and just under an hour south of Whangarei on the eastern side of Northland.

The Mangawhai estuary is bordered by a sandy dune-field - Mangawhai's sand dunes are a dominant feature of the harbour. It changes constantly. For the photographer and artist this is a goldmine. The dunes and coastal foreshore are sites of numerous middens shell and refuse heaps. The oldest middens contain bones of the forest birds now extinct in the area, Maori axes and other artefacts have also been found.

The estuary is safe for swimming, but watch out for the outgoing tide near the mouth of the harbour. For the fisherman, the estuary provides many fish - mullet, parore, flounder, good sprat, the occasional pan sized snapper, and kahawai. There are cockles on the estuary mudflats and pipi further up the harbour.

We spent a few days at Mangawhai this Easter where Pat and Bill were holidaying while out from England. The temperature was around 22 - 26C, while it was 4C back in the UK.