Auckland: Hobsonville's on point

At Hobsonville Point park children can, and do, let their ideas for games run loose. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Sarah Ell and her family road, ride and walk-test the new attractions at Hobsonville Point.

While first-home buyers wring their hands and commentators pontificate about the future of house prices, the new city is taking shape just up the road at Hobsonville. Once the Air Force's seaplane and helicopter base, the site has developed into a whole new community since the military moved out.

Led by the prospect of a coastal walkway and a good old explore, we set off on a fine Saturday equipped with runner bike and mountain buggy in case the roads got rough.

The coastal linear park and walkway, which will one day include bridges, boardwalks and encircle the peninsula, is still at the planning stage, but a map on the Hobsonville Point website suggests there is plenty to explore already.

We park by Catalina Cafe on Buckley Ave and try to work out where to start. There is a lot of earthworks going on (much to the delight of our digger-loving four-year-old) and what we see doesn't seem to correspond to our map. However, after a short walk along newly completed Hobsonville Point Drive we find an entrance labelled "walkway", which leads into a large grassy area, so we head southeastwards and seaward.

Up ahead, an area is cordoned off, with a breaker and a digger with big metal jaws smashing up something concrete, and we rejoin the walkway proper here. It leads down to what looks like an interesting place to explore: Bomb Point. Currently among Hobsonville Land Company's holdings (part of Housing New Zealand), it's under consideration for purchase by Auckland Council to use as a reserve.

A partly sealed section leads to a rough walkway around a little peninsula jutting out into the mangroves. Every 100m or so, a concrete tunnel leads into the hillside to a World War II-era ammunition store.

Even though each one is the same, they all must be explored by our four-year-old, their echo-making potential thoroughly investigated.

The path is roughly surfaced and edged with gorse and a high razor wire-topped fence, but the views are great and the potential is obvious.

I really hope it becomes a park. Although it would be prime building land, with fantastic views back up the harbour and over to the North Shore, as recreation land, it would be a jewel in the crown of this development.

We rejoin one of the old Air Force roads curving around and down to The Landing, planned to be the hub of the Hobsonville Point community. Adjacent to the large car park is a groovy ferry wharf designed by Architectus, with colourful information panels and photographs showcasing Hobsonville's history.

The Farmers' Market hums with people enjoying themselves. Photo / Supplied

But the icing on the cake is Hobsonville Point Farmers' Market, since February this year housed in the old Catalina flying boat hangar on the waterfront.

Although we have arrived towards the end of the day's trading, the hangar resounds to the cheerful swing of Henderson Intermediate's jazz ensemble grooving through Pharrell Williams' Happy. We grab coffees, pies and a freshly made Korean potato pancake, and agonise over the good-looking goods at The Liquorice Land.

By this stage everyone is pretty tired, especially our runner-bike boy, so we return up the hill and through the roadworks to the car.

We've run out of time to check out the cool looking Hobsonville Park playground, with its John Reynolds sculptures, and too full to try the goodies at Catalina Cafe or examine the Knitted Graffiti yarn-bombed tree (Hobsonville Point Rd, on the way to the Farmers' Market), knitted by 20 women over the winter. There is only one thing for it - we will have to come back, soon.

NEED TO KNOW

The Coastal Walkway is a work in progress, and access is in flux because of demolition and construction. Keep an eye out for signs and obey the access restrictions.

Hobsonville Point Farmers' Market is open every Saturday and Sunday from 9am until 1pm.

The family-friendly Catalina Cafe, right next to the super playground, is open daily 7am-4pm. Outside are four Nextbike rental bikes (and another four on the Landing by the Farmers' Market). One-off registration, $4, can be done from your mobile phone for a free two-hour hire. There's even a front basket to stow goodies picked up at the market. Registration also covers Nextbike use on Auckland's waterfront.

Keep tabs on the development at hobsonvillepoint.co.nz.