One bright sunny summer's day I decided to go for a walk. "I might be a while," I told my family, stepping out of my house and on to Te Araroa Trail.
The Kiwi version of the Appalachian Trail stretches from Cape Reinga in the north to Bluff 3600km away in the south – but with fewer bears.
It links short local hikes with better-known Great Walks and gives New Zealanders a taste of one of the world's great treks in their own neighbourhood, handily broken down into day-sized bites. A website clearly explains the route – offering accommodation suggestions along the way – but take a map too.
My 160km route through Auckland was dictated by bus routes and friends' willingness to pick me up at the end of the day's walk. And that's part of the beauty of Te Araroa: you can do it at your own pace, in your own time.
The Auckland trail starts at coastal Mangawhai and I did it in reverse, stepping on to Pākiri's alabaster sands at the lowest tide I could find. The trek involves crossing the Pākiri River but a shallow and not too fast-moving ford was elusive.
Thus it was that I strode towards Mangawhai, wet to the waist, my towel flapping like a cape behind me because I'd dropped it while drying my feet. Most of the walk up Pākiri I was accompanied only by oyster catchers and gulls, my hat and sunscreen essential as the heat intensified. Parts of the trail are poorly signposted and luckily a gathering on the beach gave the clue for the path to the forestry roads.
The shade of the pines was welcome as I crossed farms and rural roads on the way to Mangawhai Village. The trail detours off the road and back to the beach for the final stretch to the surf club – where my ride was waiting.
The Pākiri-Mt Tamahunga leg is an up-then-down hike over the mountain to Matakana. A short walk beside the Pākiri River and through farmland leads to the first slope. Smiles of golden sand kiss blue ocean as Northland's coastline expands behind you.
The track enters native forest that follows another steep up-and-down ridge, part of which involves pulling yourself up with rope. I was gutted hours later, having religiously (I thought) followed the orange trail markers, to find myself in Ōmaha Valley Rd rather than Matakana Valley Rd, having missed the Mt Tamahunga weather station and the Govan Wilson link.
I reversed the one-and-a-half-day Govan Wilson Rd to Pūhoi leg too, starting at the Ahuroa Rd swing bridge for a reasonably steep climb along a farmer's fence line to the Sugarloaf rock, which offers the opportunity to breathe and survey the glistening sea in the distance. Then it was on to the well-sealed Tolhopf Rd and the unmarked Barkers Rd – straight into the bush at the intersection – which is basically a forest track that leads down Moir Hill Rd and Matthew Rd.
After an hour or so of road walking, it was back into the forestry track and the backroads of Warkworth. Then it's a steep hike up Smyths Rd and over Kraack Hill towards the Dome Valley. The shade through the trees is a blessing in the hot sun.
I camped at the Top of the Dome Tearooms, which I had thought was deserted but discovered it wasn't when I walked past the owners thinking they were there to feed feral cats. They were kind enough to let me pitch my tent on their land and use the showers and said they planned to cater for Te Araroa walkers in future. There were no cats.
Dome Valley to Govan Wilson is mostly in shade through regenerating bush. Breaks in the trees give views of State Highway 1 snaking through the valley below but for most of the path it pays to watch where you're walking as it is steep and rocky and involves crossing a small stream. Some of the track follows gentler forestry roads and it finishes on a gravel road just out of Matakana.
Dunns Bush Track is a relatively steep climb up formed steps from the Pūhoi Domain through bush and farmland to the swingbridge at the intersection of Ahuroa Rd and Remiger Rd. It's only about three hours, so take a few minutes to walk to the lookout over the historic Pūhoi Village.
The walk from Pūhoi to Wenderholm edges SH1 – or take the more fun – and scenic – option, and kayak. Time it round the tide but be sure to start the trip with a pint at the well-known Puhoi pub.
Paddle through the village and under the soaring overpass of the new SH1. Slide through the mangroves towards the surf of Wenderholm but don't leave your arrival too late or you'll get beached on the sandbanks that emerge as the inlet empties.
Wenderholm to Stillwater also depends on a low tide around the cliffs from Waiwera to Hatfields. Skirt historic Couldrey House, its gardens in vibrant summer bloom. The beautiful walk around the headland reveals bush-clad bluffs marching in a gap-toothed row to the north. The dilapidated Waiwera hot pools are a sad sight in the village but a pretty little church near the waterfront is worthy of a pause.
Waiwera to Hatfields is a carefully trod path over algae-slick rocks followed by an ankle-risking scramble following the tumbled coastline.
After Hatfields, the trail heads inland through streets lined with a mix of architectural homes and humble former baches. Pause at the lookout to admire the unbroken stretch of Ōrewa Beach - and remember how pretty that sand looked from afar when you trudge through its soft clinginess to emerge near the Ōrewa campground. Head inland now, skirting the Ōrewa Estuary until the sea is left behind to be replaced by the high-density houses of Millwater and the retail and industry of Silverdale.
The stretch to Stillwater is a tricky march beside the busy East Coast Rd and then the narrow bends of Duck Creek Rd – more than once I leaped up a bank to avoid being hit by passing cars - to the Stillwater Boating Club.
It's all rural from here, walking to Dacre Cottage at Ōkura, but kauri dieback has closed the track that leads back to East Coast Rd. The Te Araroa website recommends wading across the Ōkura Estuary to the northern end of Long Bay Park. I say do not even think about doing that unless you are a very strong swimmer. The mud is like quicksand – my neighbour had to be rescued by the Westpac Helicopter – and the tidal currents can be treacherous.
So I cheated: I counted my pre-dieback Ōkura walks and regular visits to Long Bay as part of the trail and drove home from Stillwater, resuming the trail from the southern end of the regional park.
The North Shore coastal section of the trail to Takapuna calls in at the East Coast Bays beaches – Long Bay to Waiake, to Browns Bay to Rothesay, Murrays, Mairangi, Campbells, Castor, Milford and to Takapuna.
I opted for the urban streets over the rocky, tidal coastline and its occasional rockfalls. The views are just as good from the headlands and each beach looks different when approached on foot than glanced at from a car window.
Plus, I was thrilled to discover the Rahopara pā site – palisades are still in evidence – at Castor Bay. It was more magnificent in my view than some of the multimillion-dollar architectural masterpieces that also lined the route.
I caught the ferry to the city, casting a jealous eye at the harbour bridge and the cars that have claimed it for their own. But even after the clifftop palaces of the North Shore, it's the lovely little character homes of Mt Eden and Onehunga that enchant when crossing the Auckland isthmus. I felt a little out of place with my heavy backpack among the dog walkers and joggers of Cornwall Park.
Not one, but two, walking paths cross the Manukau to Māngere. The old bridge is being rebuilt for pedestrians and a path hangs beneath the new bridge. The trail follows the water's edge through Ambury Regional Park and the Ōtuataua stonefields. It's such a wild, desolate place, it's hard to believe the country's biggest city is just a paddock away.
The Puhinui Stream stretch to Botanic Gardens offers a variety of industrial, parkland and residential backdrops, all crammed in three hours. Few, if any, of the drivers thundering along the Southern Motorway would be aware that beneath their spinning tyres could be walkers intent on traversing the length of New Zealand.
Storm damage has closed the Hūnua stage of Te Araroa, which returns to sealed footpaths for the highly urban stretch to Mangatāwhiri where my journey ended, on the doorstep of the Waikato.
The sheer variety of just the Auckland trail, as it leads from beach, to bush, to 'burbs, through the human history of pā and urban renewal, through a geologic history dominated by volcanoes, is just a taste of one of Earth's Great Walks.
Checklist
TE ARAROA TRAIL
DETAILS
For more information on the trail and to download the Auckland route notes, go to teararoa.org.nz
For more travel inspiration, go to newzealand.com/nz.
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