A short way along from Medlands is Bark Bay, so named because once upon a time, bark was harvested from trees here for various purposes.
Nowadays you won’t find any bark being taken from trees, but you will find a tree-lined strip of land with the beach on one side and a tidal estuary on the other. There are tent sites along this strip of land and a DOC hut on the northern tip. The northern end of Bark Bay is also the beginning of the Tonga Island Marine Reserve which stretches north to Awaroa Heads.