If you are travelling to Wellsford or further north this summer, there is no reason to get involved in the Orewa snarl-up at the end of the Northern Motorway and the painfully slow trip to Puhoi and Warkworth.
Get out of Auckland on the Northwestern Motorway and follow the signs to
Helensville on Provincial Highway 16. Keep heading north through Kaukapakapa to Glorit and Tauhoa to rejoin the main road at Wellsford.
The whole road is tarsealed.
At Glorit, there are some spectacular views out over the Kaipara Harbour if you put your tramping gear in the car and scale Mt Auckland.
In places the road is more winding than State Highway 1, but the scenery is a refreshing change from the Dome Valley and the Pohuehue Deviation.
The normal travel time - when you are not stuck in slow-moving queues - is about 30 minutes longer than Auckland to Wellsford on State Highway 1.
But the decrease in stress levels has got to be worth taking the longer way. Use the Auckland-Whangarei District map to make sure you are on the right route.
* TOMORROW The Twin Coast highway
