Biking in Auckland

We’ve been away for the last two weeks. We first visited one of our daughters in Te Awamutu, then spent time with another daughter in Auckland and helped to mind our grandchildren – aged three and five-and-a-half – during the second week of the school holidays.

On one of the days we were able to go out for a bike ride – sans grandchildren – and enjoyed visiting new places.

We started the day with breakfast in the café in Cornwall Park, near where we were staying. The park is a great place for walking and biking and family fun. On the day we arrived in Auckland, we all went for a bike ride there – grandson on his own little bike, granddaughter on a child seat with Dad, and Mum, Oma and Opa on their own bikes. It was great!

Cornwall Park is a great place to walk or cycle (photo by John)

Today, fortified with brekkie and excellent coffee, we drove to Kentigern Close in Pakuranga, from where we cycled the Pakuranga Rotary Pathway. Nine kilometres of fully paved path, along the waterfront, with views on the Tamaki River estuary and mudflats on one side, and fabulous, gobsmackingly enormous houses with wonderful gardens on the other. Very pleasant riding.

Views on the Tamaki River estuary … (photo by John)

… gorgeous houses … (photo by John)

… and lush gardens

At the end of the pathway, we made our way through quiet suburban streets to the Half Moon Bay ferry, where we took a trip across the harbour into downtown Auckland.

Dinghy storage near the Half Moon Bay ferry wharf (photo by John)

Two Waiheke ferries at Half Moon Bay

Bikes on the ferry (photo by John)

Wake and clouds

From the Downtown Ferry Terminal, we first rode towards the Wynyard Quarter. We had a wonderful afternoon walking around there last Christmas, so we knew it wasn’t very far. On our bikes, we covered the distance quite quickly, of course. We looked at the flash luxury launches tied up at the wharf – some private cruisers, others available for hire to entertain your dozens of friends (or clients) for an afternoon or evening of jollifications on the water. So "Auckland" ...

This is called the Silo Park (photo by John)

I was intrigued by the shrink-wrapped yacht, in the process of being refurbished

Having got to the end of the Wynyard Quarter, we turned around and biked in the direction of Mission Bay, along a smooth shared pedestrian and cycle path. 

The foot/cycle path along Tamaki Drive, near Hobson Bay (photo by John)

Looking back at the city from Okahu Bay

Time for a chocolate stop at Mission Bay, with a view towards volcanic Rangitoto Island
(photo by John) 

Although on the map, the “official” waterfront ride seems to finish at Mission Bay, we kept going beyond there, through Kohimarama, and as far as St Heliers Bay. It is a beautiful ride with great views, although occasionally you have to watch out for low-hanging pohutukawa branches and tree roots trying to break though the sealed surface. At St Heliers we talked to another cyclist to find out whether it was feasible to go around the next point. John reckoned that if we kept following the coastline long enough, we would end up back where we had started, at Pakuranga. But there was no coastal track, and carrying on would have involved a hefty hill climb. So we turned around and went back to the downtown ferry terminal.

Another view on Rangitoto from Mission Bay (photo by John)

The Auckland transport and ferry system is more generous towards Gold Card holders than Wellington's, as there was no time restriction on when we could travel for free. We returned on the ferry at 3:30 pm – in Wellington that would have been outside the “freebie” non-peak-hour time.

Pulling away from the Ferry Terminal

The Auckland skyline

When the ferry was pulling into Half Moon Bay, we saw that there was a boardwalk track heading towards the left from the ferry terminal, so we just had to check that out. It took us to Bucklands Beach, which is a narrow peninsula with a golf club at the end.

The boardwalk between Half Moon Bay and Bucklands Beach (photo by John)

By the time we had biked back to the Pakuranga end of the Rotary Pathway, the sun was about to set. It had been quite a long day, but we had explored some nice areas of Auckand, that we had never been to before. We rode 50 km all up.

View from Half Moon Bay

The last of the sun over the Tamaki River estuary (photo by John)

The downside was that at this time, well after 5 pm, the infamous Auckland traffic mayhem was in full swing, and it took us a lo-o-ong time to get back to our accommodation. But at least, thanks to “Siri” on my iPhone, we didn’t get lost.

Pukerua – Pauatahanui – Whitby

In amongst the horrible wintry days, we do get some lovely fine ones, and Wednesday 1 July was such a day – cold, but sunny and calm. With our e-bikes, we took the train from Takapu Road to Pukerua Bay. We discovered that the Takapu Road station had had a make-over since we were there last. A flash new shelter had been installed.

The new shelter at Takapu Road station (photo by John)

As the train sped past Porirua Harbour, the view was gorgeous – flat calm, like a mirror, with lovely reflections of the Whitireia Peninsula opposite.

We had a couple of false starts trying to find the pedestrian overbridge near Pukerua Bay station. John thought it was this way, I thought it was that way. We found it – it is a much safer way to get across SH1 than trying to do so at ground level.

The ramp of the Pukerua Bay pedestrian bridge over SH1 (photo by John)

We rode down Te Ara Harakeke, the shared walking/cycle path alongside the motorway. Whee! No need to pedal! When we got to Whenua Tapu (the cemetery), I suggested we go up Airlies Road, towards Karehana Bay, rather than taking the easy way down the cycle path to Plimmerton.

We’ve only ridden up there once before, on John’s suggestion and with my serious misgivings. It was before we had the e-bikes, and he claimed it would be “just up a little hill" and then it would be all downhill to the Karehana Bay. It wasn’t.

It is quite a lot of uphill, and rather steep at that. That first time I struggled up it, huffing and puffing, having to get off and walk, purple-faced with the effort, cursing and muttering dark grumblings. This time however, with the e-bikes, it was a whole lot easier. I won’t say it was a doddle, it was still hard work, but with the e-assist set at 3 and sometimes 4, at least I did not have to get off and walk.

Downhill all the way to Karehana Bay from here (photo by John)

When we got to the bottom, we noticed some activity and a big crane at the wharf by the Boating Club. We went to investigate. They were repairing the wharf, propping up some of the piles which had become wobbly.

Wharf repairs at the Plimmerton Boating Club (photo by John)

The other wharf and boat launching ramp by the Boating Club (photo by John)

We rode along, through Plimmerton, onto the track that runs beside the railway line. There is a little beach on the other side of the Ngati Toa Domain, but I’ve never seen any people there.

A nice little beach north of the Ngati Toa Domain (photo by John)

At the Domain, we crossed the railway line and SH1, to head towards the Camborne Walkway – one of our favourite tracks. The Pauatahanui Inlet was calm and mirror-like. We watched a grey heron wading through the shallow water at the edge. Long, slow steps, very regal.

Watching the heron (photo by John)

A glimpse of the reflections between the boat sheds (photo by John)

One of the sheds had a painting on each end wall. One side showed the poet Sam Hunt and his dog Minstrel, the other side a seascape with what I assume must be one of his poems. Sam Hunt is a well-known poet, apparently much-loved by NZers, who lived in several of the boatsheds on the Pauatahanui Inlet.

Sam Hunt and his dog Minstrel – and me … (photo by John)

Some of my friends gasp in horror when I say that I detest poetry. I am probably too practical – poetry is too vague and waffly to my taste, a pointless waste of time and energy. And I must admit that I don’t like Sam Hunt’s voice or his delivery either, when he reads his poems. But he’s a local hero, so there you go.

Toetoe and flax (photo by John)

On Te Ara Piko – “The Meandering Path” along the edge of the inlet – we found that two new information panels had been installed at Ration Point. Each featured a photo of the landscape one sees from there, with smaller photos and details pointing out some of the highlights.

Two new information panels at Ration Point (photo by John)

We carried on around the inlet, to the Ground Up Café for lunch, and then rode into Whitby, intending to return to Porirua via Bothamley Park.

Whitby has a very extensive network of walkways which are lovely to bike on. The only trouble is that they are not properly signposted. There are signs with a picture of a walking man pointing to where a track starts, but there is no information as to where it leads.

And we got lost. I am completely directionally challenged – I need a map, and then I still have to turn it round and round to figure out which way I am facing. So I have to rely on John, who seems to have a natural flair for direction most of the time. We went up this path and down that road. All very pleasant, but we clearly weren't making any headway. When I said “You’re lost, aren’t you?”, he replied “That’s OK, we just have to keep the sun on our right, and we’ll get there”. Such confidence.

Whitby has some lovely walking/cycling pathways (photo by John)

We rode under some big macrocarpas …

… and beside a pleasant stream (photo by John)

We-e-ell, he was right, in principle, as we did get to Porirua – eventually. Then again, he was wrong, because we didn’t go via Bothamley Park. Instead of going south towards Bothamley Park and Cannons Creek, we went north towards the Inlet again. We came down Postgate Drive, and ended up on Paremata Road.

This is where we ended up, on Paremata Road

Looking towards the Paremata Bridge

Fortunately there was a foot/cycle path along the water’s edge (there isn’t further around the Inlet, and it is rather hazardous to bike there). So we biked back to Porirua past the Aotea Lagoon, and then along the Porirua Stream, back to Takapu Road, where our car was parked.

The last couple of kilometres through Tawa are on a lovely wide, smooth path, and here John challenged me, “I’ll race you!”. We cranked our assist levels up to 5, and belted along like a couple of youngsters! Nobody else was around, so we didn’t endanger anyone. I was winning, but in the end I had to admit defeat, as my legs couldn’t keep it up. In fact I paid for it in pain in the next few days, especially as I had three dancing nights that week as well. Scottish Country dancing is hard on the old calf muscles!

Despite getting lost, we’d had a great ride – 43 km.

Kapiti and a Pukerua Bay sunset

Saturday 27 June was a beautiful day – in Wellington at least – and we drove up to the Kapiti Coast for a long bike ride. We parked the car at the southern end of Marine Parade in Paraparaumu and started our bike ride on the new-ish shared walking/cycling path alongside the beach, with lovely views towards Kapiti Island.

About to get the bikes out of the car (photo by John)

Kapiti Island (photo by John)

We rode along Manly Street and some of the smaller roads running parallel to it, and did a little detour to Olive Terrace, where my parents used to live. From there, down a path between the houses, across Manly Street, and onto a track leading into the Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve.

The narrow track alternates between firm gravel on solid ground, and boardwalks over swampy areas. Very pleasant riding. According to the website, this is the habitat and breeding ground of more than 60 species of birds, but we didn’t see any of these.

The track alternates between firm gravel … (photo by John)

… and boardwalks over swampy areas (photo by John)

Bridging a stream feeding into the estuary (photo by John)

Low tide leaves the mudflats exposed

After the Estuary Reserve, the track goes alongside the Waikanae River, to arrive at the Otaihanga domain. This area suffered serious flooding in May and several places where we biked today showed the resulting damage.

We crossed the swing bridge at the domain, and headed through Waikanae towards PekaPeka. The destination was Harrisons Garden Centre Café. Riding along the road, we cranked up the e-assist on our bikes and pedalled on at speed. Yeehaa! Very satisfying.

As we were about to sit down on the deck at Harrisons, I suggested that we should sit under the sun umbrella – though by now the sun had disappeared behind the clouds – as it would protect us from the fall-out from the sparrows in the nearby tree. But it was too late. John had already been bombed by one of the pesky critters! The one negative about an otherwise very pleasant lunch.

On the way back we rode through the Waimanu Lagoons Reserve, where we saw a family with a young child feeding a large gaggle of geese. The lagoons are home to many geese, ducks, black swans, and shags (cormorants).

One of the Waimanu lagoons (photo by John)

Feeding the geese (photo by John)

From here we rode up the Waikanae River track. The May floods had inflicted a great deal of damage here. Debris carried along by the swiftly flowing swollen river had been left behind, wrapped around tree trunks and hanging on fences. The track had been scoured out, the water had gouged out great holes in places, and carried away a lot of top surface gravel, leaving behind silt.

Flood debris caught around tree trunks (photo by John)

Scoured-out track

An un-bikeable track and debris hanging in the fences

The waters dug great holes in the track (photo by John)

About half-way along the track are the construction works for the Kapiti Expressway. The piers for the bridge across the river are in place now. Apparently they are three metres wide and 38 meters deep. Impressive.

Piers for the Kapiti Expressway bridge (photo by John)

In most places the ground had dried out, but in other spots the track was a slippery quagmire. We thought it safer to dismount and carefully walk around the edge, but even that was a bit hazardous. A little while later we were overtaken by a chap on a mountain bike who – we could tell by the state of his bike – had relished ploughing and skidding right through it.

A seriously muddy patch (photo by John)

At the Te Arawai footbridge we crossed to the south bank of the river. The track here is wider and in better condition – mostly – but here too, the floods had left their mark.

It’s hard to believe that such a benign-looking river could have caused such floods (photo by John)

We stopped for more photos of the Kapiti Expressway construction on the other side of the river. More evidence of the floods, with debris hanging in the fences and water remaining in places.

The Expressway works on one side of the track … (photo by John)

… and on the other side. Water left behind by the flood provides perfect reflections (photo by John)

Just before getting back to the Otaihanga Domain, we rode on a section of track that was very rough. We biked here last summer when they had just finished laying a new hard-packed fine gravel surface. That had all been washed away. What a shame.

A lovely stand of cabbage trees (Cordyline australis) (photo by John) 

Heading back to the estuary track (photo by John)

It was after four o’clock by the time we got back to the car. We had done 42 km, and were very pleased with our ride.

As we drove home, down the Centennial Highway – the bit between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay – we could see that the sun would be setting soon, and we decided to go down to Pukerua Beach to watch the sun going down. It had got quite cloudy during the day, and the sun was about to dip below the clouds.

Sunset at Pukerua Bay

We parked the car, and got the bikes out again, thinking we could bike around the point as far as the road or track would allow us to go. At the end of the road there is a tall Māori carving – Pou Tangaroa – created by Pukerua Bay craftsman carver Hermann Salzmann. It looked rather impressive in the gathering gloom.

Pou Tangaroa

Our bikes with their lights turned on (photo by John)

Soon our progress along the walking track was blocked by huge piles of driftwood on the track and beach.

The track had disappeared under piles of driftwood

As the sun was setting John took dozens of photos of the descent of the golden globe into the sea, and to capture the very second it disappeared altogether. He particularly likes the effect that is created when the sun seems to be the shape of a lightbulb.

Going … (photo by John)

… going … (photo by John)

… gone (photo by John)

Though the sun had gone down, it was not dark yet, so we rode down to the other end of the beach settlement.

Pukerua Beach (photo by John)

Dinghies pulled up off Brendan Beach (photo by John)

Driftwood on Brendan Beach

This is as far as we could go (photo by John)

John likes the almost metallic look of the water (photo by John)

It was fully dark by the time we left Pukerua Bay. We’d had a most satisfying day.