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Park activities

Bird watching
Farm Animals - Viewing
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Farm Animals - Viewing

Duder is farmed, visitors will find grazing sheep and cattle.

6 out of 10

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Fishing
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Fishing

The coast around Duder is very popular for fishing and collecting shellfish.

8 out of 10

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Horse riding
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Horse riding

You can ride your horse at Duder between 1 October to 30 June but you must have a permit.

7 out of 10

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Mountain biking
Orienteering
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Orienteering

Maps are available from the ranger. There are 23 points spread all over the park.

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Paragliding
Picnics
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Picnics

There are no designated picnic sites at Duder Regional Park, feel free to find your own favourite spot.

7 out of 10

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Pram walks
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Pram walks

It is possible to access the stockyards with a pram, possibly beyond. Whakakaiwhara Pa Walk is accessible but may be challenging in places and are dependant on conditions.

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Sightseeing
Swimming
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Swimming

Duder has several good beaches which are suitable at all tides.

7 out of 10

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Volunteering
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Volunteering

Please contact 09 536 7012 if you are interested in volunteering in our southern parks.

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Walks (1 hour or more)
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Walks (1 hour or more)

The Farm Loop will take you through the farmland for some of the best coastal views of Auckland.

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Walks (less than 1 hour)
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Walks (less than 1 hour)

At low tide, try the Coastal Walk. Alternatively walk up to the Pa site.

8 out of 10

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Wedding / civil union
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Wedding / civil union

A permit is required, contact the Senior Ranger Recreation on 09 366 2044.

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Wildlife
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Wildlife

Expect to see Tui, Kereru, Fantail, Grey warbler, Kingfisher, Morepork, Silvereye, Dotterel.

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No dogs
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No dogs

Dogs are prohibited at this park

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Tracks

Coastal Walk
 ½ hour / 2 km
Duder Sustainable Trail
1 hour / 4 km
Farm Loop
 ¾ hour / 4 km
Farm Loop
2 hours / 4.3 km
Whakakaiwhara Pa Walk
1 hour / 2.4 km
Print view

Duder

Located on the pohutukawa-fringed Whakakaiwhara Peninsula, which juts out into the Tamaki Strait, Duder Regional Park is a 148-hectare coastal farm park.

If you want to experience an escape to the Hauraki Gulf without leaving the mainland, come to Duder Regional Park and enjoy some of the region's most spectacular 360-degree views.

Its landscape, including rolling pasture, high coastal ridges a remote headland, adds to the feeling of isolation and tranquillity, almost as if you were on your own Gulf island. The peaceful setting provides for a number of recreation opportunities including walking, picnicking, horse riding (by permit only), mountain biking, orienteering, fishing, exploring the rocky shore and swimming at high tide.

Duder Regional Park takes its name from the European family who owned the land for almost 130 years.

Park facilities

Beaches
Umupuia Beach is a sandy beach available at low tide along the coastal walk. Good swimming available here. Also a couple of sheltered sandy bays off the farm loop track.
Interpretation
Limited mobility access
There are disabled toilets at the car park.
Long drop / vault toilet
Native bush
Notice board
Parking
Toilet block

History

In the 14th century, this was the first place in the Waitemata Harbour to be visited by Tainui canoe. Its crew went ashore and harvested forest foods, which led to the peninsula's name - Whaka-kai-whara meaning ' to eat the bracts of the kiekie vine'.

Some of the descendants of the crew settled in the area and became known as NgaiTai. They lived on the peninsula until the 1860s, taking advantage of its abundant food resources (including seasonal shark fishing) and its strategic location near the Wairoa River mouth. NgaiTai's affiliation to the land is reflected in the many archaeological sites on and near the park.

The most significant of these are Whakakaiwhara Pa at the tip of the peninsula and Oue Pa several kilometres to the south. The Kauri forest on the peninsula was logged in the 1850s. In 1866 the Duder family began its association with the area when Thomas Duder, a survivor of the HMS Buffalo wreck (1840), bought the 243-hectare property from NgaiTai. His descendants farmed the property until it was sold to the Auckland Regional Council and became a regional park in 1995.

Read the PDF below to find out more about the history of the Whakakaiwhara block:

A History of the Human Occupation of the Whakakaiwhara Block 1996 (3.5 MB PDF)

Wildlife

Resident native birds include silvereye (tauhou), kererū, morepork (rūrū), tūi, fantail (piwaiwaka), grey warbler (riroriro) and kingfisher (kotare).

Inter tidal mudflats around the park are important feeding and roosting areas for shore and wading birds such as pied shag (kāruhiruhi), white-faced heron, South Island pied oystercatcher (tōrea), pied stilt (poaka), godwit (kuaka) and gulls (tarapunga). Small numbers of the endangered tuturi whatu New Zealand dotterel (there are only about 1500 of these birds in the world!) breed on shell banks south of the park. This area is not accessible to the public. On the farmland you are more likely to see magpies than tui. The small forest remnants in the valleys are home to a good range of native birds.

Native bush

While most of the park is pasture, pohutukawa fringe parts of the coast and there are remnants of original native forest cover in the gullies. A few kauri remain but the patches of coastal forest scattered around the park mostly consist of taraire, tawa, kanuka, puriri and karaka. 

Picture of Duder
Find your own favourite picnic spot and enjoy the surroundings Duder Regional Park has to offer.
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Park opening hours:

Summer:
8:00am - 8:30pm
Winter:
8:00am - 5:00pm

Weekend opening hours:

Summer:
8:00am - 8:30pm
Winter:
8:00am - 5:00pm

Public holiday opening hours:

Summer:
8:00am - 8:30pm
Winter:
8:00am - 5:00pm

How to get to Duder

Take State Highway 1 South and turn off at Te Irirangi Drive and bear left. At the fourth set of traffic lights turn right into Ormiston Rd and head towards Whitford. At the T-junction turn left into Whitford and right at the roundabout on to the Whitford - Maraetai Rd. Continue through Maraetai and take the Maraetai Coast Rd to Umupuia. The park is just to the south of Umupuia on North Rd.

Distance from Auckland CBD: 42 km

  
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