The Archer Track is a gentle and well-graded coastal walk skirting the shoreline of Tennyson Inlet for 9km between Penzance Bay and Elaine Bay in the Pelorus Sound, a little over an hour north of Havelock.

We loved this trail right from the start when at the trailhead in Penzance Bay, morning sunlight flooded across the native bush into a magical little pebble cove and reflected off the water in a wide arc of blazing silver dots. It was such a pretty spot that we were almost swayed to call off the walk.

To instead take one of the kayaks in the customary red and yellow colours that rested on the beach and paddle out into the bay, sit on the little swing that hung from a tree on the beach, and watch two stingrays that glided elegantly over the seabed alongside us as we walked out onto the wooden jetty. Almost reluctantly we set off, clearly expecting more of this beautiful scenery to come if we were to leave behind Penzance Bay, but we were not disappointed.

As the trail runs north along the coastline through native bush and pine forest, it offers views of idyllic Sounds scenery – turquoise-blue inlets alternating with peninsulas and islands clothed in greenery – similar to other coastal walks in the area, like the Nydia Track and the Queen Charlotte Track. After an hour, we passed a grassy clearing with a small private hut at Deep Bay and continued to Elaine Bay.

This quiet bay with a couple of houses, a small commercial wharf, and DOC campsite and picnic area set right on the water’s edge is the halfway mark where we stopped for lunch before retracing our steps back to the starting point.