The two orca who wowed Western Bay of Plenty locals this week also managed to pop in for a quick snack at Maketu.

Now before you leap to the conclusion the mother orca and her calf had headed there for a Maketu pie or to try some of the lovely treats at the Maketu Beachside Café. It wasn't quite that sort of visit.

The pair were sampling some of the marine life found in the estuary says Maketu Beachside Café owner says Shane Beech.

Shane filmed the pair frolicking in the estuary.

'They came through the bar and right up the estuary, which is quite a shock.”

He says the pair swam about 200m up the estuary something he hadn't seen before.

'We have had the odd one stranded, that's been washed up into the estuary and that sort of thing. And the odd ill one. A couple of years ago we had a young calf that came up and washed itself up onto the rocks.”

The café owner and president of the Maketu Coastguard says the pair spent some time just off the channel but then surprised the locals who came out to watch them.

'They were there for quite some time, just frolicking around and then we got quite a shock when they sort of turned in.

'They came in the channel and over the bar and down by the diving board there and shot up the estuary a couple of hundred metres and then went back out again.”

Shane quickly started videoing the mother and her calf as the swum around. He believes the pair were possibly hunting stingray which can sometimes be found in the area.

'It's not unusual seeing them chasing stingray [outside the channel]. People catch quite a bit of fish up the estuary, kahawai and stuff.

'So it wouldn't surprise me if there were a few stingray up there. They were obviously chasing something.”

The pair hang out at the estuary for about 10 to 15 minutes but didn't stop in at Shane's café for a cup of tea.

Both orca were later seen up and down the coastline checking out the local sites.