https://www.facebook.com/105714488598959/

Walks Out East, Howick, Auckland (2025)

26/07/2025

Bringing Back the Native Bush to Mellons Bay –

Tucked away behind the beach lies a beautiful 2km walking route that winds alongside a stream, through lush native bush. What many don’t realise is just how much behind-the-scenes work has gone into restoring this green corridor – volunteers have contributed more than 10,000 hours over the past six years, maintaining and improving the bush and walkways.

How did it all begin?
Back in 2020, Alison Anderson and I knocked on neighbours' doors to rally interest – and that small start grew into a dedicated local volunteer group. Once Auckland Council and Local Board saw the community’s commitment, support followed: funding for training, spraying equipment, and over 5,000 native plants. Our first planting day drew around 30 volunteers.

Since then, a small but mighty team of 4-6 locals has met on Thursdays for regular working bees, tackling invasive species, unblocking streams, and caring for new plantings. A few Saturday sessions each year have helped keep momentum going and welcomed new faces.

One of the biggest challenges? The valley was choked with massive willows and privet. Council contractors removed the most hazardous trees along the track, and many more were carefully poisoned. But that let sunlight in and weeds thrived – so we’ve been weeding and planting to reclaim those new glades for native bush.

The future - the location is perfect for school groups to experience and learn about native fauna - we are planting trees in groves and planting the three wetlands with native sedges. The walkways are popular with runners and dog walkers so another focus is on improving pathway drainage and keeping the paths wide and safe. Work has recently extended to plantings at Page Point and making the steep path much safer.

There are many other reserves and walkways across East Auckland that need this kind of TLC. Barry Wood and his team are actively making huge improvements to reserves in Cockle Bay. If you’re keen to assist or to restore a local green space, we’re happy to share our experience – just get in touch: mellonsbay@xtra.co.nz. A few hours a week from a committed group can transform a neglected reserve into a treasured community taonga.

13/05/2025

Spring and autumn are great times to walk and to hike - not too hot, not too wet or cold. So I am now posting a few suggestions in the next day or two - enjoy and I hope you make the time to get out there!

Waitawa Regional Park,

at the western side of Kawakawa Bay

Four walking loops, four sheltered beaches, mountain biking, disc golf, fishing, kayaking, swimming, picnicking, horse riding - so much to do! Just 10 minutes from Clevedon, Waitawa Regional Park is an awesome coastal recreational reserve.

There are well signposted 4, 6, 8 and 12km loops.

The track from the loop to Mataitai Bay is well worth the effort, you can also drive to the bay but it is much more enjoyable to walk it and focus on the views. At the beach there are three free bbqs, outdoor shower, excellent toilet facilities, and lots of parking. A short walk leads behind a headland to the Waitawa Wharf, an unusual T-shaped wharf very busy with anglers on a Sunday morning.

The walk to the immense well preserved PAWHETAU PA was the highlight of our day. Impressive fortifications, (try and visualise with defensive pallisades), views of Kawakawa Bay and of many islands, each often perfectly framed by huge Pohutakawa. To me, this is a bucket list must do walk - an easy hike across a flat paddock until you reach the fortifications then a bit of a scramble. Access by parking at the park entrance, track gate is to the right, only 1km each way.

Dogs - Prohibited in campground, facilities areas, and mountainbike tracks all year round. Prohibited in the park 1 July to 1 December, on-leash other times.

Here is an aerial view one minute video of from our recent visit - www.relive.com/view/vWqBdJMkyQO

13/05/2025

POINT VIEW RESERVE

Spring and autumn are great times to walk and to hike - not too hot, not too wet or cold. So I am now posting a few suggestions in the next day or two - enjoy and I hope you get out there!

Minutes from Botany Town Centre, a beautiful 39 hectares of native bush, forest and grasslands ascending from Gracechurch Drive up to the CALDWELLS ROAD CARPARK. There are interesting panoramic views to rural Clevedon, Auckland City, and new homes around Flatbush and Manukau.

The six very well made and maintained walking loops meander up and down and around the hillsides. Be prepared for a lot of steps on the side tracks, superb for cardio workouts. There is also a pushchair and cycle friendly one kilometre circuit from the Gracechurch Drive entrance - stroll up to the impressive concrete water reservoir, around and back down again through native forest.

Toilets - none at Point View.
Dogs - on leash at all times.

Here is an aerial view one minute video of our recent walk starting from near Mission Heights School then through part of Flatbush to Point View - www.relive.com/view/v36AVR7oYZq

10/05/2025

How about a Sunday picnic at the beautiful Cockle Bay beach, followed by a family walk?

Cockle Bay Walkway volunteers organised an excellent “Discovery Day” recently to encourage families to explore the area where they have carried out extensive planting over 5 years. Along their 2.2km walking loop you will find wooden plinths with signage recounting interesting historical events.

Like to walk further? At the beach at low tide you can follow the coastline to the right to the Mangemangeroa Walkway, or left to Howick Beach and Mellons Bay beach.

The walk begins at the path behind the Windross Restaurant and follows a stream up through native bush. See the attached maps.
I have also made a one minute video of the walk today, starting from the playground but following the same route - enjoy!! -
www.relive.com/view/vKv2d3LRpo6

Changing rooms, toilets and showers - on the Cockle Bay beachfront.
Pushchairs - yes, some hills but good paths and tracks.

23/04/2025

Tawhitokino! A hidden gem of a beach.

Tawhitokino Beach is maybe the most beautiful of many picturesque bays in East Auckland. Fringed with pohutakawas, a crescent of pristine sand, safe swimming, and often no-one there. Great views of Ponui Island, the Firth of Thames and the Coromandel Peninsula. A one kilometre each way walk to Tawhitokino, then 1.5km of beach.

Drive 2.5km east past the boat ramp from Kawakawa Bay to Waiti Bay. The sealed road is a very scenic wide winding single lane with adequate passing areas. Parking for about 20 vehicles can be busy on a nice day, a lovely vista from the carpark and from the beach.

Access around the point is limited to one to two hours either side of low tide - walk to the southern end of Waiti Bay, an easy rock scramble around the point to the pretty and fairly secluded Tuturau Bay. Then to stretch your legs, 200 well made wooden steps, awesome views.

Enjoy the beach, it is swimable even at low tide. The pohutakawas are great for some shade, the kayaking campsite midway along the beach has a picnic table and information posters. It is a lovely walk to the far end of the beach and the rocky headland.

I have made an aerial view one minute video with photos, see the QR code below. www.relive.com/view/vE6J5d5ByxO

Toilets - excellent facilities at Waiti Bay, composting toilet at Tawhitokino.
Dogs - offleash permitted at all times but no dogs in or near the campground.

A short drive further south past Orere Point are the Tapapakanga and Waharau Regional Parks, many camping sites at each, Tapakanga features pretty beaches and coastline, Waharau is on the Hunua Ranges side of the road and accesses some great forest walks with views. The next Eastern Times edition will feature the Waitawa Regional Park, at the western end of Kawakawa Bay.

Like to walk with others? Visit the www.meetup.com website, search for walking or hiking. Auckland Outdoors is a friendly group who welcome new walkers. Hikes are usually in Regional Parks, three to 4 hours at a moderate pace.

09/04/2025

The Mangemangeroa Reserve walkway.

Autumn is a perfect time to visit or revisit the deservedly very popular Mangemangeroa Reserve. Stroll through shaded groves of mature kanuka, puriri, nikau, taraire, pohutakawa and many other natives then follow the estuary to Shelly Park beach.

5km, one to two hours return from the carpark at 108 Somerville Rd, well maintained wide tracks lead to the sandspit at Shelly Park Beach. You may also access from Sandspit Rd, Pohutakawa Ave, Hayley’s Lane, and Point View Drive. Enjoy the forest and bush, superb views, and wander along excellent boardwalks across the tidal mudflats. Can make for great photos at low tide, at full tide the setting can be incredibly tranquil.

Within one to two hours of low tide you may continue 1km to Cockle Bay. Or return up the steps at Shelly Park to Sandspit Rd then back by road. Feeling energetic? Start at Hayley’s Lane off Point View Drive, (limited parking), head down the steep roadway, follow the track for 2km passing under the Whitford bridge and onwards to join the main trail.

Lots of forest and estuarine birdlife so please keep dogs on-leash at all times. There are quite a few stairs, the views are well worth the effort as the track drops down from the entrance to the estuary and back up and down again. Tracks may be a little muddy after rain. For a peaceful outing, consider walking early or late in the day or during the week, weekends can be very busy,

Toilets - a portaloo at the main entrance, NO toilets at Shelly Park Beach or at Hayley’s Lane.

Volunteers? - visit the Mangemangeroa website or page. A great team organising and carrying out awesome maintenance, pest control, and extensive replanting.

Like to walk with others? The Howick Picton Walkers meet Monday and Thursday mornings 9.15am in the carpark behind Wild Wheat, at the Picton Centre entrance. $2 to walk includes use of the upstairs lounge, and tea and coffee. 100+ routes.

28/03/2025

Coastline walk Eastern Beach to Howick Beach

Great views of the Waitemata, mostly sheltered from SW winds, and very few people around. 5km one way including 1.8km along Eastern Beach. The coastline from Eastern Beach to Mellons Bay to Howick Beach features a couple of headlands with some low tide rock hopping, otherwise reasonably easy at low tide.

Check MetService for low tide times and tide heights. Ten minutes of careful rock-hopping around the southern point of Eastern Beach leads to an easy walk along the cliffs below Macleans Park and Bleakhouse Rd.

Mellons Bay is a great little beach, mostly well away from the road, popular for exercising dogs early and late in the day. Detour to the back of the carpark and there is a beautiful well maintained wide 1.6km walkway following a stream through a kauri grove and native bush to Cheriton Rd and on to Haseler Crescent. From there the path narrows a little through the McLeay Reserve and continues up to Montressor Place and beyond. Volunteers having been working hard in these reserves for 5 years to eradicate invasive trees and weeds and planting over 5000 natives.

The coastline from Mellons Bay to Howick includes a few minutes of fairly easy rock-hopping, 10 minutes crossing a hard surface flat reef. Approaching Howick Beach, there is another 5 minutes of quite easy rock hopping.

Roads from Howick to Eastern Beach are set back from and follow the coast, beautiful views from Marine Parade, return to Mellons Bay, up Page Point then down through Macleans Park back to the start.

Footwear - highly recommend runners with good tread or hiking boots.
Low tides - best when about 0.3m to 0.4m.
Playground - Eastern Beach.
Toilets - Eastern Beach, Mellons Bay, Howick Beach.

11/03/2025

Coastline walk Howick Beach to Shelly Park Beach -

The 2.5km of coastline from Howick Beach to Cockle Bay to Shelly Park Beach to the Mangemangeroa Walkway is all easily walkable on a very low tide. This is an interesting walk checking out headlands and bays and cliffs, sheltered from southerly and south-westerly winds, and peaceful.

Check MetService for low tide times and tide heights. On a 1m low tide, the water is knee deep on a sandy base for about 500m, you just need to watch for the occasional small rock, and fallen tree branches. On a warm day, the wading was actually fun and enjoyable. For an 0.3m tide, you can walk on a dry sandy base, the last 300m to Cockle Bay may be a little slippery.

There is a small sandy bay between Howick Beach and Cockle Bay, an interesting concrete construction, and Pohutakawa trees clinging precariously to the top edge of the cliffs - the erosion has been significant over the last few years and in places creeping up to houses.

At Shelly Park you come to a small sandy beach, then a pretty estuarine area facing over to Whitford. Backing onto the bush hillside is the Shelly Park Cruising Club boat haul-out, a few metres on is the end of the Mangemangeroa trail, and another option of quite a few steps up to Sandspit Rd. Last week we chose to back-track to Cockle Bay then a couple of km of scenic hill roads - the Tainui Track starts from behind the playground, cross the bridge and continue on to Howick Beach.

Footwear - highly recommend runners with good tread or hiking boots.
Low tides - best when about 0.3m to 0.4m.
Dogs - yes, must be under control.
Playground - Cockle Bay.
Toilets - Howick Beach and Cockle Bay.

For a one minute aerial video of the walk visit the Relive website. www.relive.com/view/vrqojWwo7K6

Like to walk with others? The Beachlands Walking Group meets on Mondays at 9am,
35 local walks. Contact petercwebster@icloud.com for meeting point details.

12/02/2025

The WHITFORD BRIDLE TRAIL - 4.5km, 7km and 11km options.

This is a lovely walk along the Turanga Creek coastline on a wide shaded undulating bridle trail, some roadside walking then a beautiful open track along mainly mangrove coastline followed by an option to walk through the Ayrlies wetlands trails (a pretty area below the Ayrlies Gardens).

Time your visit right and there can be many wading birds along the shores and in the wetland. You may like to combine your walk with a visit to the Ayrlie Gardens - see the Ayrlies website for visiting information - for over 50 years Bev McConnell and family have worked on creating a 4 hectare homestead garden with large lawns, ponds and waterfalls - well worth a visit.

Detailed directions - see one minute video that I have made www.relive.cc/view/vdORE1w2Rrv

or
Park at the Potts Road Esplanade Reserve carpark - access from Potts Rd at intersection with Clifton Rd, continue ahead along the metal carpark road.
Set out along the trail from the parking area entrance, from the Esplanade you can return via Potts Rd or via Clifton Rd or continue for the full circuit along Henson Rd.
At end of trail, right along Potts Rd. Right into Henson Rd. Beside driveway number 50, access path. Right at T intersection. At end, right into Clifton Rd. Left into Ayrlies wetland, follow path around lake. At exit, right into Potts Rd, and back.

Toilets along the walk - sorry, none.
Dogs - yes, on-leash.
Playgrounds - none, this is a rural area.
Push-chairs - manageable but a little challenging on parts of the bridle path, coastal trail from Henson Rd probably a no with narrow parts and some steps.

Horses - please stop and be very courteous to, this is a bridle path.

Checklist: Water bottle, sunscreen, sunhat, mobile phone, mini first-aid kit, map/directions print-out.

THIS WALK ALSO FEATURES IN WWW.TIMES.CO.NZ

Like to walk with others? Walkers and joggers from the Pakuranga Athletic Club head out from the Cascades Road clubrooms at 9am Tuesdays and Thursdays. See their website.

09/01/2025

MT WELLINGTON AND STONEFIELDS WALKS

This is an excellent up to 7km walk for the school holidays with some adventuring, cafes and playgrounds. There are unobstructed views from Mt Wellington, a lovely bush walk around the lower slopes and the three craters, the Maungarei Springs Wetlands and quarry remnants, the Lunn Ave shops and wide quiet streets around Stonefields.

We started from the parking area at the end of Gollan Rd, followed the path to the right, a scramble up through some pine trees then followed a track low on the mountain to and through the Winifred Huggins Reserve. An easier pushchair friendly option is to park on Gollan Rd near the Maungarei Memorial Drive and follow the closed road around to the top and back.

Back to the end of Gollan Road and there is a wide rocky path down to Stonefields.

You may choose to walk Mt Wellington one day, Stonefields the next, and could even add in the Panmure Basin. See too the earlier column about the Tahuna Torea bird sanctuary walks. The next few weeks may be quite warm by early afternoon so perhaps set out early and back to Howick or Botany for lunch then a rest.

Toilets - opposite 87 Lunn Ave, adjacent to the Mountain Rd entrance to Mt Wellington, and Stonefields 43 Tephra Boulevard.

Playgrounds - Cliff Face Park, Guard Crescent. Playtime Park (excellent), 23 Fynes Ave.

Pushchairs - the Mt Wellington car free roadway and the streets around Stonefields. Mountain tracks narrow and the wide path linking mountain to quarry is rocky near Gollan Rd.

You may like to print one of the attached maps, I have also loaded the walk to the Alltrails app, https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/mt-wellington-and-stonefields-224e5e4

30/12/2024

Thank you to everyone who joined the walk yesterday around Cockle Bay. Was a great explore.

Here are our local walking groups -

HOWICK - Picton Walkers - Monday and Thursday mornings 9.20am in the carpark behind
Wild Wheat, at the Picton Centre entrance. $2 to walk includes use of the upstairs lounge and tea or coffee.
Walk in pairs at own speed, 100 routes.

PAKURANGA - Joggers and Walkers, meet at the Pakuranga Athletic Club (36 Cascades Rd),
Tuesday and Thursday mornings 8.45am. Walk in many groups at different speeds.
$4 to walk, coffee and biscuits after.

The BEACHLANDS Walking Group meets on Mondays at 9am,
35 local walks. Contact petercwebster@icloud.com for meeting point details.

Virtual Village East senior walkers meet up at the Homestead Cafe
by the Howick Historical Village, 10am Thursdays for a 15 to 20 minute relaxed walk then coffee.

TRAMPING CLUB
Howick Tramping Club https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=howick%20tramping%20club - follow this link, lots of events local and beyond, again a very welcoming group.

VOLUNTEERING - we need volunteers to help maintain and improve the walkways behind Mellons Bay beach - please visit page https://www.facebook.com/groups/mellonsbaywalkways/

Or contact David, mellonsbay@xtra.co.nz , 0275 277 667

28/12/2024

For a printable map see photos.

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/cockle-bay-20-parks-and-reserves-1c280e5

East along Picton St from the Village Market (opposite the Village Green). Right Cook St, pass Hawthornden Reserve. Left Sale St, right Tanglewood Place. After number 19, walkway through Evelyn Park. Turn right after bridge into Bert Wilson Park and up to Bert Wilson Pl, right into Bemrose. Grass walkway after number 10 to Paparoa Park. Through park to far end, exit on left, and ahead along Litten Rd.

Continue Sandspit Rd, third left down Lastel Pl, (optional). Right up grass slope beside number 25, Bella’s Park. At the top veer right down the stairs then up. Left into Sunnyview, left into John Gill Rd. Right opposite number 67 to John Gill Park walkway. Left at “T” to Clipper Pl, right at John Gill Rd.

Right opposite number 3 to Cockle Bay Domain track. Left fork to Pah Rd, right up Pah Rd. Follow when Pah Rd turns left. After number 92A, awesome walkway Cockle Bay Reserve. Down to beach, left to end past playground. Up Tainui Reserve walkway and road. (Optional right to end of Stevenson Way to Waikiteroa Reserve and back).

Continue up Cockle Bay Rd, right Granger Rd. After number 24 , right down the Nun’s Walk path (opposite the Star of the Sea Historic Place). Left along Howick Beach. Beyond toilets follow path up to Selwyn Rd. Cross at traffic island on Selwyn Rd. Continue up directly into Sale St. Opposite number 59, through Nixon Centennial Park.

Left up Selwyn Rd, right after number 16, path to library. Right down Uxbridge Road. Loop around the Garden of Memories. Back up Uxbridge Rd, left at library entrance. Veer right through to Fencible Walk Park. Order a coffee and relax at the park.

Shorter walk, from John Gill Rd, left up Advene Rd, right Litten Rd, rejoin route down Granger Rd.

Walks Out East

26/07/2025

13/05/2025

13/05/2025

10/05/2025

23/04/2025

09/04/2025

28/03/2025

11/03/2025

12/02/2025

09/01/2025

30/12/2024

28/12/2024

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share