Castor Bay Writers' Walk

Terrain: Steep, hilly land. If the trail is begun at Seaview Rd, the going is mostly down hill. the walk is not circular so the return is uphill. The northern end of Milford and the castor bay area is hilly. Beach Rd, which leads from the Wairau Creek mouth to castor Bay, also rises steeply.

Duration: Minimum of one hour.

Parking: Available on Seaview Rd and Rangitoto Tce.

Start at Seaview Rd. looking up East Coast Rd on the left is Sheriff's Hill at the corner of East Coast Rd and Stanley Ave. The house at 1 Stanley Ave, behind the shops was the home of...

Greville Texidor (1902-64), Short Story writer

Texidor came here from England in 1948 with her German husband, Werner Droescher, and lived on Sheriff's Hill. She became part of the Sargeson literary circle and her home was a gathering place for many North shore writers and artists during this period.

John Reece Cole (1916-84), Short story writer

Cole lived in a caravan on the Texidor-Droescher section from 1946-1948. Cole became a protege of Sargeson's and part of the "North Shore Group". He later moved to Wellington where he met and married Christine Bull, who as Christine Cole Catley later founded Cape Catley Publishing and the Frank Sargeson Trust.

Walk down Seaview Road and turn right into Rangitoto Tce. 41 Rangitoto Tce was for many years the home of...

Phoebe Meikle (1910-1997), Writer, editor and teacher

Working at Takapuna Grammar School for over 25 years. Meikle taught many of the North Shore's literary minds. She went on to publish a number of short stories and writers looking for advice and guidance visited her at her cottage.

Continue along and turn left into Prospect Tce. At the corner, pause for a moment to take in the stunning view that inspired so many writers. At 9a Prospect Tce, down a private right-of-way, lived...

Robin Hyde (1906-1939), Poet, novelist and journalist

Robin Hyde was the nom-de-plume of Iris Wilkinson. She lived in baches at Castor Bay and Eastcliffe Rd, then in 1937 moved to Prospect Tce. She was friends with Frank Sargeson. Hyde later went to China, and then England, where she took her own life.

Cut through Margery Lane on the right to Inga Rd. Of interest, a little further along is 37 Prospect Tce, once the home of...

Margaret Escott (1908-77), Poet and novelist

Escott's most successful novel, Slow Down (1936), contains an episode describing a trip to Milford by steam train, and a meeting of lovers on the cliff by the ancient pa at Castor Bay. Escott later became well-known in drama circles ands in broadcasting. She drowned herself in the sea at Milford in 1977.

Walk down Margery Lane, turn right into Inga Rd and walk along the edge of the Milford Marina across the Wairau Creek Bridge and left at the roundabout into Omana Rd.

Continue up the rise and turn left into Craig Rd. 27 Craig Rd was the childhood home of...

Sam Hunt (1946-), Poet

Hunt was strongly influenced by his childhood in the Castor Bay area. he relished the Hauraki Gulf's north-easterly storms, which to him seemed like 'anarchy come to town'.

Continue along to the beach beside Milford reserve. To your left is Castor Bay, across the mouth of the Wairau creek where pohutukawa trees cling to the side of the cliffs. This place inspired many writers, such as D'Arcy Cresswell, Frank Sargeson and Sam Hunt. Stop here for a picnic or a swim before retracing your route, and read about another writer who lived nearby and was influenced by the area.

On the inland side of the marina, where Inga Rd becomes Beach Rd, a few hundred metres up the hill, on the left is Rahopara Rd. In the early 1930s, 9 Rahorapa Rd was the site of the North Shores' first literary gathering place...

D'Arcy Cresswell, Poet

Cresswell came to live in a bach in the late 1920s. An eccentric vagabond who wrote verse in a deliberately archaic style, Cresswell and his bach became a focus for literary gatherings and conversation. These 'bohemian' gatherings were the first indication that a North Shore 'school' of writers and artists was emerging. Visitors to Cresswell's bach included Robin Hyde, Jane Mander, R.A.K. Mason, A.R.D Fairburn, Roderick Finlayson and Frank Sargeson. Cresswell left for his fourth voyage to England in 1938, returning to New Zealand only for a brief visit in 1950.

Further along the road on the right is Eastcliffe Rd where Robin Hyde briefly occupied a bach before moving to prospect Tce. Eastcliffe Rd leads into Castor Bay Rd and back onto Beach Rd. Across the road is The Esplanade leading to Castor Bay beach.