Waiheke and the Sculpture on the Gulf

Date: 22 March 2019
Party: Anna, Lesley
Map: https://sotg.nz/
Distance: 2km of sculpture trail, then a hike around the coastal track from Matiatia to Owhanake Bay, and across the headland back to Matiatia
Elevation: not much
Time: We took the 9am ferry there and the 2pm ferry back to Auckland, and walked most of this time
Notes: This was such a fabulous trip. It somehow suited the post-Christchurch extremist attack mood - maybe the bright and sunny, normal day was a counterpoint to the shocking events of the week before. Everything also seemed to fall into place on the day. Ferries caught, ferries arriving, weather, sculptures, lack of crowds, and a fantail hovering around while we observed the national two-minute silence to remember the victims of the attack.

The first sculpture was by Euan Lockie, and proved hard to beat (see the hut moored in the water), but we enjoyed most and puzzled over a few.

The coastal track was fantastic; the houses outrageous. There were stairs. There was the bay we went to with Nigel for the ‘Annual Quiz Group Boat Trip’ and the beach Tony was taken to in the tender to ‘stabilise’ his sea-sickness on the trip! It was really, really hot. Anna had a sumptuous lunch, I had a brunch bar. The water was turquoise, and it could all not have been better.

Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder

Kohimarama to Tahuna Torea via Churchill Park and return

Date: March 3, 2017
Party: Anna, Elizabeth, Lesley
Map: 

Distance: 15 km
Elevation: 

Time: 2.5 hours
Notes: Another late summer day of gloriousness! So far we have had about two weeks of real summer weather, just as we head into autumn. We left Kohimarama in lovely morning light, watching swimmers and kayakers enjoying the water as we walked the coast. Our 'normal' Kohi walk extended itself to Tahuna Torea, where the daredevils took on the incoming tide on the spit (without being washed out to sea) and the rest of us waited bravely close to terra firma. It was incredibly hot, so we had to divert briefly for a drink, and then back to our favourite coffee shop where we were shown a deft bit of queue-cutting by a Roz. Anna's death stare may have had something to do with her immediate disappearance. (Cue this video..."I can kill you with a single thought"...) 

Takapuna to North Heads

Date: February 24, 2017
Party: Anna, Elizabeth, Lesley
Map: 

Distance: 13 km?
Elevation: 

Time: ?
Notes: 

Anna seeing if she left the lights on in her lounge!

Te Henga Walkway from Constable Road to O'Neill Bay Bay and return

Date: February 10, 2017
Party: Anna, Elizabeth, Lesley
Map: 

Distance: 13km

Elevation:
Time: ? 3-4 hours
Notes: This is one of the most stunning trips on a clear summer's day. Anna picked it just right, so there was hardly any wind and quiet seas. And the contrast between the dry foliage and the turquoise sea was unbelievable. We didn't go right down to O'Neill Bay, as we couldn't face going down then turning right around and coming back up, when we could see the Bay nicely from our elevated position. The only down side? Heaps of gorse right at the edge of the track. Ouch. And see that elevation grid? Those stairs at the beginning looked rather different on the way back up, in searing heat. Check out the beetroot face.

RIP Sunny the budgie (aka Fat Boy)

Well, it had to happen. After nearly nine and a half years irritating the boys, screeching over the noise of the vacuum cleaner and making a catastrophic mess, Fat Boy died yesterday. Is it embarrassing to admit that I will miss him? His little blue budgie friend does not know what to make of it all.

Piha Rd car park – Upper Huia Dam Track – Upper Huia Reservoir – Tunnel - Lower Huia Reservoir - Smiths Road Bridge - Return

Date: September 2, 2016
Party: Anna, Lesley
Maphttp://nztramper.com/upper-huia-dam-track-christies-track-upper-nihotupu-walk-waitakere-ranges/
Distance: 16.5 kms
Elevation: Not sure
Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
Notes:
For a number of reasons, we have not headed out West for what seems like an age. So even as the clouds gathered ominously, and the country headed to higher ground after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake off the East Coast, we cheerily drove off for an extended visit to the West. The Te Atatu motorway exit has become such familiar territory, as have Lincoln Road, the railway underpass, and the left-hand turn at the Gull service station, where you can relax after spotting the Piha sign. So it's almost unimaginable that we still have to give it serious thought before we commit to the off-ramp! (Perhaps our insistence on ignoring the GPS lady has something to do with it...) The walk Anna had chosen was one we have not previously done, which is pretty strange, given the territory that we have covered over the years. We decided to do only a part of it today, as a recce - to go as far as we felt like and then turn back. We'll do the longer walk shown in the map when Elizabeth is available. One of the things we have come to realise is that if there is a sign at the start of a Waitakere track saying 'experienced trampers only' you are guaranteed mud, tree roots, stream crossings, steep terrain, narrow paths, splendid isolation, and a full-body workout. So no surprises about five minutes into the track when we were fully concentrating on our foot placements between tree roots, and sliding (ok, and squealing) down the rest of the track. In the rain. But what a beautiful track! Fantastic bush, with several stream crossings, and water rushing along the gullies. Mossy banks, a lovely pool and a man-made cave, before there were peeks of dam, and great stretches of still water. We walked the length of the dam to check the track at that end - still closed due to Kauri die-back - and getting pretty overgrown. We descended to the Watercare buildings, and strolled on to find a spot for morning tea. Enter a white Watercare car. Exit a Watercare car. Followed about 20 minutes later by a Park Ranger and a passenger. Turns out they were looking for a suitable environment for Hochstetter frogs, who need still water, a shingle riverbed, and things to hide under. That got our curiosity going and we spent a bit of time as we walked considering suitable places for them. There was a tunnel a little further along the track to the Lower Huia Dam, which of course we had to investigate. A sign warned us that we needed industrial-strength safety helmets before we could dare enter the Beast. We ignored this (naughty) and found we didn't even need the torches we had carefully packed. No glow worms either. I did like the warning about soil and rocks 'frittering' into the tunnel though. Like they had nothing better to do. We reached the Lower dam after one of those boring forestry roads that mess with your mind - they just leave nothing to the imagination in terms of interest or destination. This dam is one we have visited before, and is full of reeds, probably eels, and is lovely in the sunlight. (Yes! thank you Auckland weather!) We had lunch back at the Watercare buildings, in the sun, and ANOTHER Watercare vehicle drove up...this time to test the water. Given the recent problem in Hawke's Bay, it was reassuring to hear that the water here is tested every two weeks for greeblies. Having consumed our lunches, we steadied ourselves for the ascent into the mud, CSI Meadowbank tracking the Ranger's passenger (who we decided must be a global expert on Hochstetter frogs) as we went.