Gertie

Maungakiekie is a prominent volcanic cone, one of Auckland's many, with its lava flows shaping the landscape. Māori Significance: One of the largest and most developed Māori pā sites in Auckland, showing extensive pre-European settlement. The name means "Mountain of abundant kiekie" (a native climbing plant), though sometimes misinterpreted as "One Tree Hill" due to a single tree that stood there. It is an important place for both Māori and Pākehā (European New Zealanders), with the obelisk at the summit erected by Sir John Logan Campbell, who is buried there.

Joining Jasmijn on her weekly parkrun, at Orakei Bay this time. Walked a short part of the track, but would think the complete track is really beautiful.

At Omanawanui carpark there is plenty free carparking available. Here the Gibbons track starts, which is the first part of the trail. The track starts climbing straight away, lots of steps on the track, viewpoints at regular intervals. Walking through beautiful lush forestry. The trail changes into the Muir track before arriving at Pararaha campsite. Some toilets and water basins available. Here it becomes the Pararaha Valley track, some sections are boardwalk. Amazing flora and scenery. Just before the Tunnel campsite, we took a left turn towards the beach. Some deep black volcanic sand to walk through for a while. The beach walk is advisable to do at low tide. The sand is firm then. Definitely 9 km of a beach walk till we came to the lighthouse on the rock. Some interesting history and geographical facts to read about. Then a short inland track to follow to the carpark.

👣Question to my Komoot fraternity👣: I was recording this track from scratch, so not navigating off a previously walked route. I had downloaded the off-line map of the region of Auckland before, as I do not have roaming on this phone here. My problem: every time my screen timed out, the recording stopped. This leaves my walked route with plenty straight line, unrecorded sections. What am I doing wrong? Can any of you advise? Thank you! 👣

This is the best park in Auckland for walks, relaxation, coffee, ice cream.. and to take your baby granddaughter🩷 for a walk and play..just great.

The last hike of the year, and what a year it has been! We hiked in 7 of the 10 countries visited. Here is to continue the trend 🥂 May I wish all my Komoot friends a great hiking year in 2026!

This is a return track, not a loop. The bushwalk starts at the Cowan railway station, and initially follows one of the popular sections of the Great North Walk along the Jerusalem Bay Track. Near the bottom of the gully, the track comes close to Yatala Creek. At the bottom of the gully is Jerusalem Bay (one of the bays off Cowan Creek). The track follows the northern side of the bay before reaching an informal lookout, where a palm tree frames a view down Cowan Creek. Interesting history: the palm tree was planted in 1921 by Mrs Rhodes, and is one of the few signs remaining of the settlement at Jerusalem Bay. George Rhodes and his wife Agnes settled here in 1895, building a house and establishing a successful boat hiring business (Jerusalem Bay being a popular weekend destination). The original house burnt down in 1937, and a new house was built by George (on the same site). Afer the death of Agnes Rhodes in 1939, George continued the boatshed business until 1945 when he sold the business. The house and wharf were demolished by NPWS around 1949. Source: Man Made the City but God Made the Bush. The Jerusalem Bay Track then continues around another small inlet and across a small creek, before it starts climbing up to the next ridge. It’s a short but steep climb up. The junction with the track to Taffy's Rock, which is “hidden” behind a sign pointing back to Jerusalem Bay, and ahead to Brooklyn Dam. The trail is not shown on most maps, and I would only recommend this to hikers with path finding experience. The bush at times is dense, the trail very narrow and overgrown, sometimes over rock plateaus with no indication of a route. The Taffy's Rock track passes two old trig stations: TS1531 COLE is still in pretty good condition, with a well-constructed cairn of stone. There’s no view from the trig site, but a bit further on there’s a glimpse of the Hawkesbury River in the distance.The track then climbs up to a large, tesselated dome-shaped rock. The second trig station, TS1940 EDWARDS is a bit further along, also a well constructed cairn. The track is undulating again all the way to Taffy's Rock. The rock platform is named after Taffy Townson, a member of the Rucksack Walking Club of NSW, who died from a snakebite while walking the Overland Track in Tasmania in 1948. This was one of her favourite places to hike to. The panoramic view is to the east, where you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Hawkesbury River, all the way up Cowan Creek. In the distance is Lion Island, and behind it Bouddi National Park. A great day out, not to be underestimated, esp on a hot 30C day like today. We met 3 lace monitors and 1 snake, no evidence pic of the snake though..

A great area for hiking and biking. Shared trails, and plenty of options. Today, after overnight rain, the sandstone was deeply coloured yellow and orange. We encountered a large group of black red-tailed cockatoos. There are some great views and beautiful rockscapes and the burnt bush is regenerating itself beautifully.

A very beautiful little trail in eucalyptus bush. It is a shared bike/hike trail, but it seems quiet enough as even today, a Sunday morning, we met no one. Easy to follow trail, sandy stretches and rocky stretches. A few options to divert.

A walk around the other side of the bay. Smoke can still be seen on the other side of the bay after yesterday's devasting fire in Koolewong, which destroyed 14 houses 😢 I hope I have been able to give a little impression of this pretty seaside village which has a very relaxed atmosphere. After 2 extremely hot days with 41C, today was a lot cooler with 25C and pleasant to walk around.