Walk 11 - Hunua Falls

Hello friends and readers from around the corner and across the seas! It's been too long. I know that, you know that and my password reset definitely knows that. But with the injuries and frustrating distractions of last year behind me it's time to start walking again, and we have!

I'm entering an exciting new stage with the walks as I'm very quickly crossing all the Auckland based ones off the list which means some serious exploring is about to start happening, which was one of my smaller goals of this exercise. My view of New Zealand is very city-centric and being able to visit not just some of the other larger towns but the nooks and crannies in between is going to be great fun.

I've eased back in with one of the shorter hikes - Hunua Falls which is about 45 minutes away from us and part of the Hunua Ranges.  Rain was threatening and the wet weather gear took up almost as much space as the humans in the car but we were happy in our confidence that at least the rain would mean the park would be nice and quiet. Well it didn't rain (while we were there) and the park was packed! There were food trucks and walking club buses filling the standard parking area and a field to the left had been opened for additional cars. Tents were up, deck chairs were out and the summer hum thick in the air. So to sum up I was annoyed. Not that I don't love people out enjoying the weekend. I just have a bad reaction to being wrong.

There were a couple of different track options available to us here. The Massey Loop which would have taken us up into the ranges more and the Cossey Gorge Track which was a smaller loop taking us away from the waterfalls, to a reservoir and back which is the one we went with.

The walk immediately begins with a stream crossing and a lovely view of the falls.

And if you look to the left as you're crossing, there's a view of the ranges we were heading in to.

The track was really well maintained and nice to walk. Some of the hikes we've done so far have said "easy" and almost killed me so I'm skeptical now of the track descriptions but aside from a couple of slopes closer to the reservoir this was very pleasant.

I hope nobody's getting too bored of the tree lined paths yet, because *spoiler alert* this is New Zealand and this is what we offer.

Very early on we passed a private property on the left which had a strange collection of trees where the tops and bottoms were a lush green but the middle sections looked either burnt or dead.

I thought it was the strangest thing and if anyone knows why or how this would happen I'd love to know.

You head down into the bush before turning up towards the reservoir and there's a lovely, quiet stream you have to step across to continue. When we reached it there was a couple with their dog who was perfectly happy to stand in the water and not walk any further. If we had brought a picnic this would have been the spot to enjoy it.

Once we had finished our loop we popped down to the waterfalls to have a closer look just as it was starting to rain (YES I was right!!) It seems a popular spot for locals to spend the day as pockets of people had staked their claims around the pool with families, gaggles of teens and visitors like us happily sharing the space. One of the first clues that you've taken a tiny little step out of Auckland.

Our next walk is not so small and not so "easy" as we head to the Karangahape Gorge which is about 2hrs out of Auckland and a proper day out. So keep sunny thoughts in your head for us, though I'm happy to take a car load of rain jackets and be wrong again.

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Walk 05 - Tawharanui Regional Park

Apologies for the delay in this blog but the inevitable happened....I was left too tired to type on Sunday! And then, feeling like I had fully recovered on Monday night, sat down and.....fell asleep. Tawharanui Peninsula officially got me. But it wasn't just the hike, but the slightly misleading description of an "easy, rolling walk" that left me ill prepared for the mornings adventure.

In an effort to not go through all my Auckland based walks at once, I decided a little trip up North was in order over the weekend, so I picked Tawharanui which is a lovely 1 1/12 drive..well mostly lovely as the last 20 minutes is a very narrow, windy gravel road which my little city car struggled with, as did the little city driver. I'm still not sure what the proper response is when you approach a blind corner and a helpful, dented road sign indicates the lanes are about to become one, but I'm sure my sailors curse was incorrect, though it made me feel braver for but a moment.

My company was my very brave Mum who only 11 days earlier had been in hospital having surgery, but the idea of an "easy, rolling walk" had appealed and she was suffering a little cabin fever. So over the hills we zoomed, towards the park - a predator free sanctuary once again. Brown ducks and Pukeko poke about amongst the grazing sheep and the silence envelopes you and helps to erase the memory of the gravel lane you'd just barley survived.

 

It's a short drive to the car park by the beach where a bus from the surf school was leaking half dressed, tanned, athletic types which we politely nodded to before scurrying past before we blinded them with our paleness. I could write a whole blog on the toilet facilities at the beach, but I need to leave something to talk to my therapist about. All I shall say is that I never would have imagined that soap and a 'flush' function on the loo were luxury items.

Now I shall be very honest and confess that the reason our walk took such a dramatic turn and would, on reflection NOT be described as easy, is that I may have, by mistake and without meaning to, lead us the wrong way round the track. Though in my defence, a white marker looks an awful lot like an 'off' white marker and so with my trusting mother at my side we headed out and immediately encountered our first hill which took us up and out away from the beach and across the farmland.

With the memories of the toilet and the drive fading with each step we started to enjoy the surrounding views and the lovely noises chirping out of the trees. They were similar views to those from the walk around Shakespear Park - rolling hills and seascape but still enjoyable and the breeze along the hilltops were a relief.

 

 

The main challenge of the day were the hills...oh the hills! Four crazy, mean spirited hills. The first one as we set out was tough as we hadn't really warmed up, but the other three were super steep and the loose gravel under foot on the last two added an extra degree of difficulty which under the weight of the guilt I was carrying at subjecting Mum to them, made for a lung busting effort.

I tried to capture the degree of the climb, but without the sound effect of my tears it doesn't have as much impact..

Mum did exceptionally well and lead the way (though i was carrying all that guilt remember) and most of the complaining was coming from me, which may have also stemmed from the knowledge that I had taken us the wrong way (extra guilt anybody??) but at the top of the hills were some spectacular sights, I especially enjoyed the canopy of trees which seemed to have purple plants dotted through it.

As we came down off the final hill we were treated to a gorgeous bush walk where Bellbirds, Saddlebacks, Tuis and Wood Pigeons flew around us and the pain of the climbs were quickly forgotten. The paths were lined with beautiful old trees who's roots snuck out across the path. A stream wound it's way along beside us and the "easy, rolling walk" we were expecting, suddenly appeared.

 

The path finally looped back to where we had started at the beach, which was much busier than when we had left it. Families out enjoying the sunshine, blankets laid out under trees and surfers still enjoying the waves.

Definitely the toughest walk so far, but I know there will be tougher...much tougher...and yet as we sat under a tree at the end, enjoying our lunch, we felt good about what we'd achieved and being able to enjoy the bush at the end made it all worthwhile.

Now which "easy" walk shall I do next??

Walk 1 - Tiritiri Matangi

After enjoying a good nights sleep, I woke to a bright sunny day and enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee before making my way down to the harbour. This, was how I wanted my blog about walk number one to start. This, did not happen...

At 3am I awoke due to the crushing heat that we've been having here at the moment (be quiet Australia...we're more fragile than you!) and noticed that my phone wasn't blinking it's little charge light at me. It took a few moments for my 3am brain to realise that nothing in my room was blinking at me and that a fuse had blown. I could still hear the fridge/freezer going so my 3.03am brain chose to ignore it and try to go back to sleep. My 3.15am brain started to worry that without a charged phone, my alarm wouldn't go off and without an alarm I would sleep in, and if I slept in I would miss my ferry etc etc etc, so my 3.19am brain decided to fix the fuse. Unfortunately once reset, everything in the house whirred back to life including the house alarm, which my 3.23am brain couldn't remember the code to so *click* the fuse was switched back off again. So the 'good nights sleep' part of my grand plan became the 'half-asleep so I don't miss my boat' toss and turn.

Once I was up at the right time and we had fixed the fuse the next problem became the rain outside. Only the second day of rain we've had since Christmas I'll just add. With everything that I had on my 'to buy' list a raincoat was very near the bottom so I had to pull out a dusty old poncho I brought during our last trip to Universal Studios. If it can keep Dinosaur expressed water off me, than it can keep my backpack dry. This is not to say I don't have a rain jacket, it's just ours are mostly heavy duty winter coats that are a little too snug to go over body, pack and camera.

So here I was tired, about to be wet and heading out for walk number one. But even these little hiccups couldn't quash the excitement and as I was standing on the dock, looking out at the ferry bobbing about in the water I was all smiles.

The ferry leaves from Downtown Auckland which was all a buzz with the Rugby League Nines competition happening this weekend and the trip takes just under one and a half hours. The first great thing that happened was that I saw Trish on the boat who is a fellow Zoo Volunteer and also a guide on Tiri. Familiar faces are always a good thing and we chatted about the Island, and what I was doing which helped take my mind off the bumpy ride we were having. By the time we arrived Trish had gotten approval to be my guide for the day and accompany me around the island! Looking back, doing the walk alone would have been such a different, less fulfilling experience and I'm so grateful to Trish and the other guides for that opportunity. She was excellent company and my brain is overflowing with facts about the history of the island and all the different native trees and birds. If you're ever visiting the island I can't recommend enough booking a guided tour - it's a very small cost for what you get back.

This was the sky over Rangitoto Island as we headed out towards Gulf Harbour. At this stage I thought all I was going to get out of the day was a ruined camera and a cold.

After the ferry drops you off the visitors are gathered round for a quick talk about the Island. There are some important rules to follow as it's a predator-free sanctuary and environment for scientific research which I know sounds like the set up to the Sci-Fi movie of the week but there are some guidelines that all visitors have to follow.

The track from the book that we followed took us away from the main attraction, the lighthouse which is where the bulk of the crowds go. We went down past Hobbs Beach, then along the Kawerau Track towards the North East Bay track, then back along the East Coast track past Pohutukawa Cove and Fisherman's Bay, up to the Lighthouse then back down the Wattle track to the Ferry. We had to be back by 3.15pm or the Ferry would unceremoniously abandon us.

Our first treat were the nesting boxes they have set up just before Hobbs Beach for the Little Blue Penguins.

One of them had a nesting bird inside which I chose not to photograph as I didn't want to disturb it with the sound or flash of the camera.

Part of the beauty of the island is the different types of environment you walk through in a day. From beach to paddock, to bush to coastal paths, you're really spoiled with the different scenery. And it's probably the best time to say that none of my photos properly capture the beauty of being in these locations.

 

 

While we were walking along the Kawerau track there were some amazing trees that looked like they'd come from a Tolkien universe. Their roots were these incredible, interweaving structures and they had beautiful, mutually beneficial relationships with the trees around it. The oldest we saw was a 1000 year old Pohutukawa tree.

 And of course as you lose yourself within these tracks your company becomes the collection of native birds that call the Island home. By being a predator proof sanctuary Tiritiri is one of only a few places you can see...but mostly hear...the Takahe, Kokako, Stichbird, and Saddleback as well as Bellbirds, Robins, Whiteheads, Tui, Wood Pigeons and Kakariki. It's a symphony of sound for your whole visit that beats the sound of the city any day.

We got to see a lot of birds, but I wasn't quick enough on the camera to capture photos of them all. If you'd like to hear their calls the Department of Conservation website has samples of most of them at this link

 This is the Tui which has two voice boxes that allows them to make a wide range of calls and can trick you into thinking that there's more than one about.

The Kokako was the most elusive but we finally spotted on on our way down to the ferry.

The little Bellbirds flitted around us all day.

And we were so lucky to see a family of Takahe up by the lighthouse with their newest chick, who is all feet and totally gorgeous.

So the track took us about 3 and a half hours to the lighthouse and then another 40 minutes down to the boat which I'm really happy with and I can't say enough about how wonderful the guides were and an extra special thanks to Trish for helping make walk #1 such a special day. And.....we didn't have a drop of rain.

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A penny for my thoughts...please...

As fun as I hope this journey is going to be and as much as I'm excited to be getting out and exploring New Zealand there is a serious and important component of this whole plan and that is to raise money and awareness for people living with Parkinson's Disease. I aim to do this by taking donations for Parkinson's NZ which is a non-profit organisation that offers support for people with Parkinson's as well as their families and carers.

To accomplish this I've set up a fundraising page on the GiveaLittle site which I feel is the perfect place for this type of collection for a couple of reasons. Firstly, at the end of the collection period 100% of the money raised goes straight to Parkinson's NZ not to me, or a third party so people can donate knowing that the right people are getting the funds and secondly the minimum amount you can donate is $1 which is perfect because I'm hoping people will do as it says on the label and give a little. I know that sounds like a strange statement from someone hoping to raise money but I'm very aware that not everyone has a lot of money to spare, even when they want to spare it. So it's my hope that over the period of these 202 walks (which will be a couple of years) that people may be able to spare a dollar or two every few walks or when they can and gradually we'll be able to raise some funds for this great organisation. Of course if you have more money than you know what to do with I'll happily take a $5 or even $10 donation ;)

It's also not my intention to hound people for money but I will post the link to the site after each walk as part of the blog and I certainly won't be using it as a measure of peoples support - your comments and messages mean the world.

Don't forget to join in on the Facebook page here and the donation page can be found here.

Only two more sleeps until Walk #1!

Tiritiri Matangi

Well in a weeks time my first walk will be behind me and this journey will have officially begun! I'm a healthy blend of nervous and excited and especially thrilled to be beginning at Tiritiri Matangi which is a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. I just hope I'm not too overwhelmed by the event to enjoy the environment.

Tiritiri Matangi is an island 30 km North East of Auckland - just over an hour away by boat (note to self, pack motion sickness tablets).

A huge conservation effort has taken place on the island to create a predator free wildlife sanctuary. A place to see many of our native birds as well as Tuatara, skinks, geckos and weta. There is also a lovely lighthouse on the point which has just celebrated it's 150th birthday.

There are many different walks you can do there (some guided). I'll be hiking the coastal track which should take around 4 hours.

It's going to be a great mix of coast, farm, sea, forest and beach views and with an early weather forecast of 28c (82F) things are set for a pretty great day. For more information on this special little island you can visit their site

My donation page has finally been fully moderated on the GiveaLittle site too so I'll post more info on that during the week.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Up and out early!

I slept terribly last night which I think was a combined result of the heat and frying myself at the zoo yesterday. Which reminds me, I really...really need to buy some more sunscreen if I'm going to preserve my Irish pale glow and avoid turning in to one big freckle. Note especially, the very attractive tan line.

So after realising a Sunday morning sleep-in was not on the agenda I headed to Cornwall Park which is about 10 minutes from home and where you can find One Tree Hill, which sadly is more like 'No' Tree Hill after an activists demonstration back in 2000.

I arrived just after the park opened, at about 7.15am and it's a lovely time to be out as it's not too hot and you're not fighting any crowds. Though there is a unusual amount of pressure being the first person to park in a large, unmarked car park as wherever you choose to stop sets the perimeters for everybody else for the rest of the day and frankly it was stress I didn't need..draw me some lines people!!

The path I took goes around the base of the hill, through some lovely patches of land and one of the prettiest places in Auckland (I think) which is Twin Oaks Drive.

There are cows out with their calves at the moment but not much else to see in terms of animal spotting. There are usually sheep but they seemed to be hiding today - as sneaky sheep tend to do.

Going to the top of One Tree Hill is one of our favourite little drives and a lovely place to stop for an icecream. You get a full 360 degrees view of Auckland and is a very popular landmark for visitors to the city. I do plan to try and walk to the top over the next couple of weeks but I didn't have it in me today.

Back down towards the carpark and you pass the restaurant and information centre. This place will be humming in a couple of hours and is one of the best places in Auckland to have high tea.

It was a very frustrating end to the walk when I found my little map app hadn't tracked properly. It's hard to get reliable free things these days *sheesh* So no stats but I'm sure it would have been slow and steady as is my pace of choice.

Best track on the track today was GERONIMO by Sheppard.