Moturoa / Rabbit Island access and updates

Disc golf

Regular visitors to Moturoa / Rabbit Island may have noticed a proliferation of small stainless-steel mushroom-like structures popping up in some areas.

They’re not miniature alien sculptures, they are disc golf baskets which are part of our newly established disc golf course on the island.

Disc golf is growing in popularity, but what is disc golf?

It’s a low-impact outdoor recreational activity, started in California in 1975 with the invention of the official disc golf target – the metal disc golf basket. Since 2000, the game has been growing rapidly worldwide, and New Zealand now has around 50 officially basketed courses.

The Nelson Tasman Disc Golf group approached us in 2021 seeking support and assistance for the development of a course at Moturoa / Rabbit Island. Since then, there’s been a lot of work and a financial contribution from the previous government’s Better Off Funding Support Package.

The new 18-basket course is being developed in the Conifer Park and Bike Park area immediately east of Conifer Park and west of Rimu Road.

Horse-riding trail

A new horse-riding trail on Moturoa/Rabbit Island links the parking area near the boat ramp with the beachfront.

The original plan was to create a track linking the equestrian park on Rough Island to the front beach, but it was considered too dangerous for horses to cross the narrow causeway that connects Rough to Moturoa/Rabbit Island. The compromise was a new two-kilometre-long track from near the boat ramp through the forest to the front beach, also connecting with Monaco Road which borders the beach.

The new equestrian link was paid for with money from the previous government’s Better Off Funding Support Package.

But remember access to the forest is by permit only, which means it’s off-limits to cyclists, walkers and horse riders.