Wanganui Road, Marton to Turakina

There's little of interest between Marton and Bulls on SH1, so, perhaps after having a coffee at the Sugar Plum Café in Marton, drive west along on High Street, which becomes Wanganui Road, for 14km. (Beware — Google Maps puts Turakina in the middle of nowhere, but it's actually where Wanganui Road meets SH3.) This road is a quiet stunner, with a broad expanse of views that are bucolic in the extreme, as the lush farmland dips and climbs away on either side. At SH3, take a right then a left and drive the 8km to the ever-wild, always-changing Turakina Beach at Koitiata.