4 minute read
Walking West with Mick Andrew; Weather by the moon
As a born-and-raised Westie, the rural parts of east Auckland have always seemed remote and unfamiliar, perhaps even more so than the far north or the Coromandel. But when I have occasionally ventured into the empty bucolic space beyond Botany, I’ve found a number of beautiful coastal regional parks that provide hours, if not days, of walking and camping.
It’s early January when, looking for a nice sunny walk to do with my mum, we decide to travel to Duder Regional Park on Whakakaiwhara Peninsula about 15 minutes drive north of Clevedon and an hour’s drive from Titirangi. A working farm park managed by Auckland Council, the peninsula includes a range of walks over the grassy hills, and through the patches of regenerating coastal forest and wetland ecosystems.
Advertisement
We park at the car park about 500 metres in from North Road and start the Farm Loop Track, which immediately heads straight up the first steep hill. Definitely the most arduous part of the walk, it soon levels out at the summit from which magnificent views of the Hauraki Gulf and the mouth of the Wairoa River open up.
The trail continues along the parched and brown hills for another 20 minutes, through flocks of darting sheep and paddock gates, eventually reaching the Oturia Trig – the highest point on the park. To the north west we can see Umupuia Beach, the site of the farm’s homestead and the local marae. The area’s history is dominated by Māori presence and Ngāi Tai lived on the peninsula for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived and Thomas Duder purchased it in 1866. In fact, the peninsula has special significance for Tainui, as the bay on the south side of the point was where the canoe Tainui anchored after having travelled from Hawaiiki in the 1300s.
We continue past the trig, skirting past a native forest and into a valley before heading back up the other side. Here the Farm Loop winds back to the car park along the south of the park, but we continue through the gate toward the tip of the peninsula and the historical site of the Whakakaiwhara Pa.
weather by the moon
Ken Ring’s predictions for February
February is far drier than average, with rain in only the first week. Temperatures will be a degree warmer than the average, with more sunshine.
The first week brings rain each day, but the second, third and fourth weeks are mostly dry. The hottest day is around the 28th and the coolest night may be the 9th. Atmospheric pressures should average about 1018mbs, with winds averaging southerly.
For fishermen, the highest king tide may be the 13th. The best fishing bite-times in the west are at noon on the 10th–14th, and 25th–30th (and in the east around dusk on those days). Chances are also good in the west for evenings of the 3rd–5th, and 18th–20th (and in the east around lunchtime on those days).
For gardeners, only the 25th and 26th are for sowing (waxing moon ascending) and pruning is best on the 10th and 11th (waning moon descending). For longer shelf-life for crops, harvest on the neap tide days of 6th and 21st. Allow 24 hour error for all forecasting. For future weather for any date, visit www.predictweather.com. © Ken Ring 2021.
Looking at Whakakaiwhara Peninsula from the historic Pa site. Photo by Mick Andrew.
Somewhere slightly to the south and on the shore is Te Wharau Campground – only accessible by sea kayak – and further on we see Te Tauranga o Tainui, the bay where the canoe anchored.
When we get to the end, the surrounding landscape comes into view beyond the water: the Hūnua Ranges to the south, Rangitoto to the north west, Waiheke and Ponui Island to the West and the Coromandel behind it.
Around the tip of the point, you can clearly see the remnants of terraces and storage pits from when a fortified Pa stood there. Now it’s just a tranquil place to sit and take in this stunning quarter of the Hauraki Gulf.
We head back toward the Farm Loop Track and follow the road along the southern end of the peninsula, passing swathes of wetlands and coastal forest. Here another walk – the Sustainable Trail – veers off to the right through the park’s largest remaining patch of native forest, containing taraire, tawa, kānuka, pūriri and karaka, and the occasional kauri. It’s half-an-hour back up to the trig through the bush, but we continue to the car park – a simple job along the flat gravel farm road.
Altogether it took about 2.5 hours from start to finish, certainly not a bad way to spend an afternoon in the middle of summer. And with Waitawa, Tāpapakanga and the Hūnua Ranges Regional Parks within 30 minutes drive, there’s plenty more exploring to be done with mum.
Absolute Beginners French Jive
7pm Tuesdays, from 16th March
Waiatarua Community Hall, 911 West Coast Road $10 cash p/p
Come on your own or bring a friend
