I was amazed at the number of shorebirds we saw along this section of the trail. At some points, nearly every fence post along the trail had a Grey Heron on top. Also spotted were stilts, oystercatchers, spoonbills, kingfishers, ducks and pukekos and a few others we couldn’t identify or get close enough too.
This section of the Hauraki Rail Trail is 12.5 km long and runs from Pipiroa to Kopu. It’s flat with plenty of bird life to ogle at, at least in June. The trail is very exposed, with no shelter, could get very hot in summer. Main entrances are at Kopu (either side of the Bridge) and Pipiroa, opposite the café with that name. There is one other possible entrance though the parking options looked non-existent and turning could also be problematic. At GZ it is very clear that the farmed land is below sea level, especially towards high tide, when we placed the cache a large portable pump was being used to remove excess water from the farmed side.