Tag Archives: Level Paths

Mangere Mountain Walk

walks in auckland

I have driven past Mangere Mountain many times without realising where it was. I knew of it, but hadn’t seen it. I discovered it last year and found that it’s a huge and unspoiled volcano with fabulous views across the Manukau Harbour. Mangere Mountain has little exposure from the motorway to the airport, but on it’s western side it looms high (106 metres above sea level), from the Harbour shores. This volcano does not have paved paths and roads like Mt Eden or One Tree Hill. It erupted about 18,000 years ago and is in the most original condition.

Dogs – on leash.

Other Mangere WalksMangere Bridge to Onehunga LoopAmbury Park Farm WalkMangere Esplanade Loop

Nearby places to visit: Watercare Coastal walkway, Ambury Regional Park, Villa Maria Winery and cafe, Butterfly Creek,  Otuataua Stonefields historic reserve , Mangere Strawberry and Vegetable Farm @ 127 Kirkbride Road.

Description: A mix of level paths and steep paths. Caution: Muddy and slippery when wet. Suitable in dry weather. Suitable for most ages and levels of fitness and mobility, designed with flat shoes or running shoes in mind. Not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
To see: Volcano crater and rim, Manukau Harbour views, views of other volcanoes.
Time: approx. 45 minutes (3.69kms)
Start: Coronation Road, Mangere Bridge Village There is a children’s playground and an off-leash dog area.  (See other Dog Friendly Walks) Mangere Village has several cafes.

Find this walk and other walks over at our Walks Store  (GS006 Mangere Mountain) and our Book Store (“Volcanoes”  and “Best of the South”).

12 Volcano Walks
12 Volcano Walks

Mangere Mountain is featured in our book “Volcanoes”. Available from AmazonShort Walks in Auckland: Volcanoes (and on Kindle)

Northcote Point and Auckland Harbour Bridge

Walks in Auckland

I felt like a tourist in my home city this morning! The morning was stunning after last night’s opening of the Rugby World Cup 2011. The skies were blue and the water still in the harbour, with just a little mist left around the edges. I had not explored Northcote Point before (it would have been a fine vantage point for the previous night’s fireworks display).

We had not prepared a route – it was a discovery walk and we were well rewarded. Views of Auckland City. Dwarfed by the pylons of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. A new-found path along the motorway. And an interesting mix of old and new residential homes. Plus children’s playgrounds as a reward for children. All made for a fun walk.

Download the Council’s Heritage walk brochure here.

Description: A mix of level paths and steep paths/steps. Suitable for users of average fitness and mobility.
To see: Auckland City views, Waitemata Harbour views, Harbour bridge foundations.  See if you can spot Mt Eden, Mt Victoria and the Chelsea Sugar Refinery.
Time: approx. 70 minutes. (about 5.85 kms).

Coastal walks in Auckland book (part 1)

Stay on track…get your detailed guide and map  (AN-021 Northcote Point Loop) over at our Walks Store and our Book Store (one of 12 walks featured in our book “Coastal part 1”).

Lake Pupuke Takapuna

Today’s walk around Lake Pupuke in Takapuna was a discovery one.

Walks in Auckland

I have been here only a few times – with my children when they were little and once to a garden sculpture exhibition.

I had not realised that you can walk the circumference, although unfortunately not completely by the lake edge.

However the bits by the lake edge – Killarney Park, Henderson Park, Sylvan Park, Kitchener Park and the Quarry Lake Reserve more than make up for the street walking.  There is lots to see at the lake edge, from the water birds to the water activities (sailing, wind-surfing, canoeing and model yacht racing). For more info about Lake Pupuke click here.

Lake Pupuke walkway track was muddy in places but would be ideal walking from November to perhaps June.  From September to December the path from Henderson Park to Sylvan Park is closed to allow the water birds space to nest and breed.

Even though the day was cold, windy and with spots of heavy rain, it was still a very enjoyable walk.  We will be back to document the Lake Pupuke walk very soon (and hopefully the day will be sunnier).

December 2011
We came back on a lovely summer day. We stopped and had a delicious iced coffee at the Cafe French Rendez-vous beside The Pumphouse.

Description: A mix of level paths and steep paths/steps. Suitable for users of average fitness and mobility. May require boots in wet weather, running shoes suitable in dry weather. Caution: Muddy and slippery when wet.
To see: Lake activities, water birds
Time: approx. 90 minutes. (about 7kms)
Start: The Pumphouse carpark (MAP)

Volcano Walks in Auckland

This walk  (AN-024 Lake Pupuke) and other walks are now available from the Walks Store  and our Book Store (Volcanoes).

12 Volcano Walks

12 Volcano Walks

Lake Pupuke is featured in our book “Volcanoes”. Available from AmazonShort Walks in Auckland: Volcanoes (and on Kindle)

Spectacular views from Mt Victoria Devonport

walks in Auckland

Today was clear and sunny, which called for a walk and climb to look over Auckland from up high from Mount Victoria. Mt Victoria provides spectacular views – it is higher than North Head and closer to Auckland City. This walk has a dog friendly off-leash area. (See other Dog Friendly Walks) And Devonport’s village-style shops and cafes is always a great place to visit and walk around. It’s fun to arrive in Devonport by ferry. And you could spend the whole day there – spend half the day at North Head and the other half at Mt Victoria with a lunch and shop browse in-between…..

Description: A mix of level paths, steep paths and steps.  Suitable for most ages and levels of fitness and mobility, designed with flat shoes or running shoes in mind. Not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
To see: Wonderful views of Rangitoto, Hauraki Gulf and Auckland City, historical buildings.  Mount Cambria Reserve – A volcanic cone that is now a park, having been quarried away for roading, garden walls and ship’s ballast. Victoria Picture Palace/Theatre – built in 1912, oldest cinema in NZ. Fort Mt Victoria and the Disappearing Gun. St Francis De Sales Catholic Church, St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Devonport Cemetery
History: https://www.devonport.co.nz/heritage.htm
Time: approx. 60 minutes. MAP

12 Volcano Walks

Suggested Cafés: 1) Along King Edward Parade 2) Many in Devonport Village 3) Five Loaves@ 29 Church St

Stay on track…get your detailed guide and map  (AN-020 Mt Victoria Loop) over at our Walks Store and our Book Store (Volcanoes).

More: Devonport Walks and Trails 

Te Atatu Peninsula Walk

short walks in auckland

The Te Atatu Peninsula Walk provides wonderful views of Auckland harbour – the Chelsea sugar factory, the Sky Tower, Rangitoto Island and the Harbour Bridge. You could almost be on an island! And the water looks beautiful at both high and low tides, dotted with mangroves.

On the eastern side of the Peninsula, specially created salt marsh wetlands on the lower terrace at Harbourview – Orangihina provide natural habitat to an abundant wildlife (fern birds, New Zealand Dotterel, oystercatchers, herons, Caspina terns, godwit and varous gulls).

There are boardwalks and a picnic platform out over the water at Harbourview Beach Reserve.

The walking route is suitable for cyclists, prams/buggies and dog walkers (on leash only to help protect the bird life that lives around the foreshore).

Fans of the New Zealand TV series Nothing Trivial Season One may recognize Michelle’s house and her exercise path.

Description: 6.25km loop walk. Mainly level paths – a mixture of paved, loose metal and boardwalks . Caution: Puddles after rain. Suitable for most ages and levels of fitness and mobility, designed with flat shoes or running shoes in mind. Suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Children’s Playground=Yes
To see : Waitemata Harbour views, natural habitat, shore birds MAP

Suggested Cafés: Luscious Food Store and Servo

Stay on track…find this walk’s map and directions guide (AW-019 Te Atatu Peninsula) and other walk self-guides at our Walks Store and our Book Store (“Coastal Part One” and “Best of the West“).

Mission Bay – walking in the rain

Walks in AucklandIt was a big decision today, do we do the Mission Bay walk this morning, this afternoon, tomorrow… The weather was looking grim and the weather forecast even grimmer. We decided – this morning. It rained on and off, there was a bit of blue sky, and the coffee at De Fontein was very good!

Mission Bay buzzes on sunny summer bays with lots of activity in the water, the foreshore and the cafes. It was still busy today with people braving the rain because it was not that cold. What is there to do in Mission Bay? Click here.

This walk takes you along the short beach promenade and up on the clifftops overlooking Hauraki Gulf and the city skyline. You do have to look out for cyclists when you walk along the shared pathway.

Walks in AucklandMission Bay has a great choice of cafes, eateries (Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Italian…) and one special ice-cream parlor! Meet your friends by the fountain and enjoy the fresh salt air by the harbour.

 

Description: A mix of level paths, steep paths and steps. Suitable for most ages and levels of fitness and mobility, designed with flat shoes or running shoes in mind. Not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
To see: Wonderful views of Rangitoto, Hauraki Gulf and Auckland City.
Dogs: On leash only. Children’s Playground=Yes
Start Point: Tamaki Drive, Mission Bay

Stay on track…find this walk’s map and directions guide (AC-018 Mission Bay Loop) and other walk self-guides at our Walk Store

Suggested Cafés: Various along Tamaki Drive
(the coffee is very good at De Fontein – reviewed here)

Hillsborough Cemetery to the Bays

The Hillsborough Cemetery to the Bays walk is one of the few walks in Auckland that does not have a nearby cafe. However, we feel that it deserves to be in our collection because it is quite magical – from the peacefulness of the cemetery, to the rustling of the bush and then the lapping of the water at the edge of Manukau Harbour.

There is a publication called ‘Not Just Passing Through – the making of Mt Roskill’ by Jade Reidy that devotes a page to Hillsborough Cemetery.
The cemetery contains resting places for about 17,000 people who were buried there from 1916.
Even the first man to go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel, Bobby Leach, is buried there.

The walk passes through the native bush of two reserves – Goodall Street reserve and Belfast Reserve. These two reserves have stands of native bush and fauna.

Dogs – this walk includes  off leash dog exercise areas.

At the bottom of the hill, you can get great views across Manukau Harbour to Mangere Mountain. And when the tide is in, the scene is set for a spot of kayaking!

Short Walks in Auckland: Urban Bush

Description: A mix of level paths and steep paths/steps. Suitable for users of average fitness and mobility. May require boots in wet weather, running shoes suitable in dry weather.
Caution: Muddy and slippery when wet. Not wheel-friendly.
To see: Cemetery, native bush, harbour beaches, Manukau Harbour views.
Time: approx. 60 minutes.
Start: Hillsborough Cemetery corner Hillsborough Road and Goodall Street   MAP

Stay on track…get your detailed guide and map over at our Walks Store  (GS008 Hillsborough Cemetery to the Bays) and our Book Store (one of 12 walks featured in our books “Urban Bush” and “Coastal part 1”).

Western Springs and Meola Reef

It was great to see so many people, with their children and their dogs, out enjoying walking today at Western Springs and Meola Reef.

Other things to do here are to visit the Auckland Zoo and MOTAT – Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology. And have a tram ride!

Western Springs Park has a warm spot in my memories. My son loved coming here when he was little. He would ride his tricycle (and bicycle when he got bigger) around this man made lake. He had special places where he would have to stop to participate in the imaginative story he had going on in his head with characters from books we used to read.

Western Springs has a mostly level path suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs and children’s scooters and trikes. There are ducks, geese, swans and eels to feed, so be sure to bring your bread scraps. And there is a fabulous playground with a BBQ area nearby. “Timespanners” view: War, water and birds at Western Springs

Meola Reef  is Dog walk friendly with off-leash areas – dogs romp around in a big wide open area. This is a mostly flat walk, apart from one lot of steps in Jaggers Bush.

And when your dog gets tired, there is a seat to rest on…

There are two great places to enjoy your picnic – on the many picnic tables in Western Springs, or out at the point of Meloa Reef.

Unfortunately there is not a cafe within walking distance. But there is a van that sells coffee in a paper cup and icecreams in a cone just by the entrance to Western Springs from the Zoo carpark and not far from the children’s playgrounds. (Weekends only, not July and August).

To see where one of the sources to Meola Creek begins, head to: Mt Albert and Meola Creek

Description: Mainly level paths plus steps. Suitable for most ages and levels of fitness and mobility, designed with flat shoes or running shoes in mind. Not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
To see: Waitemata Harbour views, a natural spring-fed lake with ducks, swans, geese and long-finned eels; stream, trams, planes.
Time: approx. 90 minutes. (about 7 kms)
Start: Great North Road (Western Springs gardens) opposite Western Springs. MAP

Stay on track…get your detailed guide and map brochure (AC-011 Western Springs – Meola) over at our Walks Store  and our Book Store ( one of 12 walks featured in our three books “Volcanoes”, “Coastal part 2”, “Dog Friendly part 1”).