Auckland walks: From the city to Mt Eden and back

Fancy a walk? Okay, then pull on those hiking shoes and grab some water ‘cause we’ll be pounding the pavements for about 9 kilometres and we’re going to head up a volcano so you might feel the heat.

At 196 metres, Mt Eden is the highest point in central Auckland so a great place for spectacular panoramic views over the city, its harbours and suburbs. And when we walk there, and back, from the central city, there’s a lot to see along the way, including a historic cemetery, two old churches, some street art, assorted historic buildings, significant places in Maori history, old villas and a huge park.

I’ve plotted our route on a map (just click on it to see it full screen) and numbered the points of interest along the way. These are just a few of the things that have caught my eye on past walks -- you will no doubt see other things that capture your interest and imagination.

1. A convenient place to start, and end, is at the corner of Symonds Street and Grafton Road, right in the centre of the University of Auckland’s huge complex of buildings. We could easily spend a whole afternoon exploring the university grounds … but that’s for another day. We’ll head up Symonds Street, past the towering blocks of student accommodation and offices and pause briefly for a look at Symonds Street cemetery. (For more on this fascinating place, check out my previous blog.) 

2. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

After a left turn at Khyber Pass Road, we find one of the historic highlights of our walk on the corner of Khyber Pass and Burleigh Street. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre dates from 1880 and is renowned for its wooden interior, one of the best in the world. Unfortunately, the only way to see that interior is to attend a Sunday service as the church is not open for public viewing.

3. Cityside Baptist Church

At the bottom of Burleigh Street, on the corner with Mt Eden Road, is another old church, not nearly so distinguished but with its own history and the most gorgeous little bell(-less) tower perched on top.

4. Snippets of Mt Eden history

After turning left along Boston Road, then right at Normanby Road, a glance to our right before we cross the railway line will bring a glimpse of some of Auckland’s street art, in this case the running squirrels of BMD. To our left is Mt Eden jail – not a place we want to enter – and further along Normanby Road, we find some historical links to Mt Eden’s past: the Colonial Ammunition Company's shot tower, the old bluestone building (now the CAC Bar & Eatery), and Normanby pub, to name a few.

The whau tree, from which this mountain takes its Maori name

5. Mt Eden

There are many paths up Mt Eden: sometimes I head up the dirt paths, sometimes I sweat up the steps old and new, sometimes I go up the roadway. It’s worth several visits to check the different routes as the trees and the views are all different. Maori named this volcanic cone Maungawhau (mountain of the whau tree), and archaeologists have discovered that as many as 3000 people lived on its slopes in the 1600s. We can still see the pits and depressions in the landscape, where kumara and taro would have been stored after harvest and houses would have nestled. And now we’re at the top, check out how deep the crater is. Impressive, eh? And look at the magnificent panoramic views – without a doubt, the best in Auckland.

6. Heading down

We’ll head back to the city by a different route. First, we veer off the road and down the steps bordering Government House. I used to think you might be able to get a sneak peek at visiting dignitaries from these steps but the trees are too tall and lush: many were planted as long ago as the 1870s.

We turn left at Mountain Road and our stroll takes us past some very lovely and very expensive real estate, some charming historic villas, past Mercy Hospital and a plethora of villas that now house medical specialists, and then alongside the splendid Spanish Mission-style buildings of Auckland Grammar School.  

7. Auckland Domain

After crossing Khyber Pass Road, we head up the appropriately named Park Road towards Auckland Domain. Today we’re just going to walk past the Duck Ponds and down the pohutukawa-lined Centennial Walkway but the Domain really deserves more time to explore. Check out some of its highlights in my earlier blog here. 

Once we exit the Domain, we simple head up the slope opposite, up Grafton Road, between the buildings, old and new, of the University of Auckland, and hey presto! we’re back where we started a few hours ago. I hope you enjoyed today’s walk.

Auckland walks: Mt Victoria and North Head

Leaving on the ferry

One of the best things about having so many volcanic cones dotted around Auckland is the panoramic views you get from the top of them and, as most are very accessible for walkers, you can easily combine exercise and sightseeing by a walk to the top of one … or, in this case, two.

As I live in the central city, access to these two volcanoes, Mt Victoria and North Head, is via a quick 10-minute ferry ride across the Waitemata harbour to Devonport. This is a pretty little seaside suburb, with architecturally significant colonial-era houses, craft shops and galleries stocked with fine examples of local artistry, a range of outdoor cafes with offerings to satisfy the most demanding taste buds, as well as beaches and parks where you can stroll off the calories after you indulge!

My map – and this blog post – focus on the walk I did last week but Devonport is worth exploring further. In fact, the place has so much to offer there are two websites to show visitors what to see and do, and where to stay and eat.

Devonport and Mt Victoria

From the ferry, the direct route to Mt Victoria takes you up the main street, Victoria Road. With extreme difficulty, I resisted the temptation to browse the shops and galleries (you can always return to these at the end of your walk!) and focused on the hill. At the entrance to the reserve, across Kerr Road, there’s a sign showing the road and pathways but, basically, you just follow the road -- a steep-ish climb to the 87-metre summit, but with plenty of opportunities to stop for photos, it’s easily managed.

Named after Queen Victoria, this volcanic mount was formed by the fire-fountaining of frothy scoria from a central crater, which was later breached on the south side by a lava flow that extends towards the Devonport foreshore. When the tide’s out, you can clearly see the remains of this lava flow on the beach between Devonport wharf and Torpedo Bay, and its rock pools are fun to explore, though sturdy footwear is required.

Looking from Mt Victoria to North Head and Torpedo Bay

This mountain is not just a scenic reserve. It was used as a pa (fort and village) by early Maori and, due to its height and prominent position, the signal station for the Port of Auckland was sited on top in 1841. Much updated and now fully automated, it still functions today, and the old signalman’s house has become the Michael King Writers’ Centre, supporting the development of high quality New Zealand literature. The mount was also the site of 64-pounder muzzle-loading guns when, in 1885, Aucklanders feared an invasion from Russia, and still houses an 8-inch disappearing gun that dates from 1899. The northern side of the crater contains a water reservoir, the vents from which have been painted to resemble artificial mushrooms growing in the grass.

Looking from Mt Victoria back towards the central city

Once I’d checked out the historical sites, soaked in the views and taken a hundred photos, I headed down a track on the eastern side of the mountain, emerging on to Church Street via Flagstaff Lane. I turned left and continued along Church Street a short distance until the entrance to Cambria Reserve appeared across the street. This pretty park was once home to a 30-metre-high volcanic cone but one hundred years of quarrying away its scoria and rock have almost flattened the land, and landscaping by the local council has produced yet another green and tree-filled space for a pleasant stroll. I did a quick circuit and emerged on the eastern side, where the old, relocated Presbyterian Church now serves a new purpose as the Devonport Museum. It was closed on the day I visited but I’m sure its collections of memorabilia and photographs would be worth a visit.

Looking from Mt Victoria across the Mt Cambria Reserve and Cheltenham Beach towards Rangitoto Island

You could walk all the way up Vauxhall Road and access Cheltenham Beach from the northern end but I always choose the greener route if I can, so I strolled across the grounds of the North Shore Rugby Club to Tui Street, then turned left into Tainui Road and took the next right (Matai Road), which took me straight to the beach.

Looking north along Cheltenham Beach from North Head

With its golden sands and a grand view out to Rangitoto Island, Cheltenham Beach is a favourite spot for walkers and swimmers alike. Dogs chased sticks, energetic youngsters jumped to catch Frisbees, families picnicked, and seagulls squabbled over fishing rights in the shallow water – it was an idyllic sunny scene and I lingered awhile to enjoy it all, soak up some sunshine and dry my feet after a paddle. Then, it was off southwards along the beach to my next volcano, the 50,000-year-old North Head, the eroded remains of a scoria cone overlying a small tuff cone.

Just like Mt Victoria, North Head’s strategic location at the entrance to the inner Waitemata Harbour has led to its use as a defensive fortification, with more muzzle-loading guns placed here in 1885 and three disappearing guns in 1886. Prior to the First World War, prisoners were used to excavate tunnels linking the gun emplacements and their service facilities, and exploring these is a fun activity for young and old alike. Fearing invasion by the Japanese, North Head’s defence capability was further developed during the Second World War and the fort served as the Regimental Headquarters for the entire Hauraki Gulf defence system.

These days, North Head is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park, and the Department of Conservation manages the heritage buildings and defence facilities and artefacts still found there. Their website contains excellent information and a guided walk pdf so interested visitors can learn more about these aspects of Auckland’s history. 

North Head from Torpedo Bay, with the Navy Museum and cafe at bottom right

I wandered the paths, at sea level and around the top of the cone, once again enjoying the panoramic views and taking lots of photographs, before heading down to Torpedo Bay, its excellent Navy Museum and café for some well-earned lunch. Afterwards, as I strolled the seashore back towards the ferry, I was treated to the antics of a plethora of birds: herons and cormorants, kingfishers, oystercatchers and gulls. Sitting on the ferry back to the city, I knew I had only scratched the surface of all Devonport has to offer and vowed to return again soon to explore further.

Information about the volcanoes listed here came from Bruce Hayward’s excellent book Volcanoes of Auckland: the essential guide, Auckland University Press, 2011. 

Auckland walks: Maungarei – Mt Wellington

The 10:10 to Papakura was running late due to “earlier customer issues” – whatever that might mean – so we didn’t depart Auckland’s Britomart train station until 10:20. Not that I cared at all. I hadn’t been on a train journey for a while and, though this was to be a fairly short trip, I was still looking forward to it and happy to sit and people-watch away the extra waiting time.

There are just three stations between Britomart, in central Auckland, and my destination, Panmure – Orakei, Meadowbank and Glen Innes – so, once we got underway, the trip only took 15 minutes. The Panmure train station and transport centre has recently been upgraded so it’s now all shiny glass, escalators and, if you have a transport card, a quick tag off before you exit to the constantly busy Ellerslie-Panmure Highway.

I quickly headed away from its noise and fumes, found the appropriately named Mountain Road and was off on my adventure to explore one more extinct volcano, which, at around 10,000 years old, is the second-youngest of Auckland’s 53 volcanoes.

The view of Mt Wellington from my apartment

This is the cone the European settlers named Mt Wellington, after the Duke of Wellington, but the indigenous Maori people call it Maungarei (which translates as ‘the watchful mountain’ or ‘the mountain of Reipae’). Like most of our volcanoes, this one exhibits much archaeological evidence of its past use by Maori as a fortified village. Its sides were terraced for housing sites and there are numerous pits where food was stored.

Maungarei may be a relative youngster but it’s not small – according to the book Volcanoes of Auckland, from base to crest, Maungarei’s cone is 100 metres tall, making it the tallest of Auckland’s volcanoes and the trig, at the highest point on the crater rim, is 162 metres above sea level. Its size means it’s a prominent landmark, easily seen from much of the city, and it sits exactly in the centre of my view as I look out my central-city apartment window. Since I moved here last August, that big mountain has been enticing me to visit.

There are no walking tracks up the mountain, just a narrow single-track road that goes up one side and down the other. It’s quite a steep walk but the views get increasingly more impressive as you ascend, providing a good excuse to stop and catch your breath, and to take photographs. Unfortunately, the immediate surroundings are filled with the grey expanses of factory buildings and large stacks of containers but, if you overlook those, you get fine views of the Panmure Basin, the Tamaki River and the inner Hauraki Gulf.

At right, Panmure township and Panmure Basin, with the Tamaki River running from the right background to the left.

Looking across the Tamaki River towards Farm Cove and Half Moon Bay

About half way up the mountain, there’s a flat area where one of its three fire-fountaining craters was filled with a concrete water reservoir back in 1960. There is a car park, as well as some picnic tables and benches. From there, you can follow a scoria-covered track up and around the rim of the volcano. This scoria proved slippery in places so I stuck to the grass at its edges. There are also tracks through the grass, which you can follow to explore the old pits and terraces and to descend the 60 metres into the southern and western craters.

Foregound, the southern and western craters, with the concrete reservoir in the northern crater in the background

As there are hardly any trees on the upper parts of the mountain, the rim walk provides spectacular 360-degree views in all directions, to the city skyscrapers, Waitemata Harbour and its islands in the north and east, to the Bombay Hills in the south, and over the Manukau Harbour in the west. Next to the trig at the highest point, there's a rather ugly, short concrete column that is topped with an engraved metal plate which points out the various landmarks to be seen. There are a couple of park benches on the northern terraces but, unfortunately, no signage to inform visitors about their surroundings.

The skyscrapers of the central city can just be seen on the horizon at right.

Still, I delighted in the views, the fresh air and the exercise. And now when I look out my window at Maungarei, I know more exactly what I am looking at and can remember the pleasant couple of hours I spent exploring there.

Another view from my apartment. I love how the early morning clouds and mist are flowing over the mountain top.