When our two children were young, my husband and I would load up all our bicycles to venture out onto the Manukau Foreshore Walkway/Cycleway that runs between the Mangere Bridge to Hugo Johnson Drive in Penrose. Since then Grace and I have done the walk – to the end and back.
Today we explored the possibility of a circular walk taking in the industrial part of Penrose. While it is rather beautiful along the foreshore, the other half of the walk that took us through the Penrose industrial area is not at all pedestrian friendly.
It is a shame that a walkway was not planned and catered for within the industrial area, not only for the people who work there, but for visitors as well.
Another issue we came across was the walkway that is designated “no cyclists” at the Hugo Johnson Drive end, was unkempt and covered in all kinds of noxious weeds (which I have alerted Auckland Council about).
For the first time we looked in at Southdown Reserve (near the Southdown Power Station) – a very seedy looking reserve that I would not enter on my own.
We will not be documenting this walk. MAP
On a bright note, the morning rain clouds dissipated, the sun emerged providing blue skies, the view of Mangere Mountain and Manukau Harbour was great, the birds were singing in the bush areas, and the shore birds were out in force in the lowering tide. And to top it off, we enjoyed each other’s company! (Followed by a very nice lunch at The Library Cafe in Onehunga – note new owners as of a week ago).
As usual we were surprised at what we uncovered – a beautiful bush walk along a stream. The previous night had been very stormy (the news reported that there were over 1000 lightening strikes) and the stream was very full and flowing very fast! The well formed track following the stream however was not muddy as we would have expected.
