Pohutukawa Park's playground sits at the quiet north end of Waihi Beach in the western Bay of Plenty, on the lawn between the beachfront car park and the leased baches that share the reserve. Families come for the setting: the sand, the surf club and the start of the Orokawa Bay track are all a few minutes' walk away.
Equipment
The council's reserve plan lists a North End Playground on the beach side of the park.1 From the air it is a modest square pit of pale soft surfacing holding one combination unit with a yellow slide, plus what looks like a small swing frame. It suits under-fives and early primary kids more than older climbers. The other draw is on the beach itself: a tyre swing hangs from the large pohutukawa beside the information board at the north end of the sand.2
History and Cultural
This corner has drawn picnickers for over a century. A 1921 photograph shows a large crowd picnicking at the north end, the area now called Pohutukawa Park.3 The Waihi Beach Tennis Club, up the slope inside the reserve, dates from 1931.4
Practical Info
The play area is not fenced and sits right beside the car park on The Esplanade, so keep small ones close on busy days. A big pohutukawa shades one side of the play pit, and visitors note the trees flowering crimson. The council lists seven picnic tables on the beach side and a toilet up by the tennis courts,1 and the surf club is about 100 m away. Ice creams are a short walk away, and one reviewer recommends it for fish and chips while watching the waves.
A track climbs to a lookout picnic area,1 where the council's kids' scavenger hunt asks you to count container ships out at sea.2 The Orokawa Scenic Reserve track starts just past the surf club: about 45 minutes each way, hilly, and cut off at high tide or in a big swell.5 Freedom camping is banned in the reserve and its car parks outside the bylaw area, whatever some camping apps say.1 For a bigger playground, Brighton Reserve, about 550 m south, has a castle and swings.6
