Coast to Coast walkway

Introduction | Interesting facts | Additional information | Walkway map

Interesting facts

The walk from the Viaduct Harbour (formerly the home of Aucklands fishing fleet and more recently, the Americas Cup campaign) along Customs Street takes you along reclaimed land. Catch glimpses of the Waitemata Harbour, the Maori name that means 'smooth and shining water', pass the Edwardian Baroque ferry terminal that has operated since 1912 and then the neo classic beautifully restored ex-Chief Post Office building, now home to the city's bus and train terminal, Britomart.

Albert Park is the site of an old Maori village (papakainga) called Rangipuke, which once contained a defensive pa and farmland. The Meteorological Observatory is situated at the highest point of the park and has been providing recordings of weather information since 1909. Formal paths, gardens and statuary define Aucklands best preserved Victorian Park.

The Auckland Museum located strategically on a part of the Auckland Domain sits on Pukekawa, the "hill of bitter memories", which mourns the many slain in the 1820s musket wars. The museum, built in 1929, honours those who also died in the first world war.

As you leave the Auckland Domain from the Carlton Gore exit, do not forget to visit Outhwaite Park on the other corner of this intersection. Outhwaite, once a volcanic knoll was also home, from the 1840's to Aucklands first Supreme Registrar, Thomas Outhwaite and his French wife Louise. The trees date back to this period.

Maungawhau (Mt Eden) is the tallest volcano in Auckland, reaching 196 metres. The slopes of Maungawhau were once densely populated by Maori that shaped the hills steep scarps, terraces and kumara pits. The crater of Maungawhau is known as the food bowl of Matāoho. In 1841, Apihai Te Kawau defined from the summit the boundaries of his 3000 acre gift of land to the Crown that established the city of Auckland. Part of the walk around Maungawhau includes an old Maori trail - Aratakihaere.

Located on the slopes and adjacent to Maungawhau is Eden Gardens. In the 1960s, a team of volunteers created the Eden Gardens out of an old quarry site. Today Maungawhau is still cared for by many volunteers who dedicate their time to preserving the unique nature of the volcano.

Melville Park, located between St Andrews Road and Gillies Avenue, was established as part of the make work scheme of the 1930's Great Depression. The park is now home to Auckland women's hockey and cricket including a croquet club.

Sir John Logan Campbell, one of New Zealand's first European settlers, gifted the One Tree Hill estate to the people of New Zealand in 1901. He presented his gift during a Royal tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall - hence the name of the park. Sir Campbell is buried on the summit of Maungakiekie, with a statue commemorating him located on the grounds as you enter Puriri Drive. Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill Domain together make up 220 hectares of Auckland's most striking landscape. Acacia Cottage, located in the heart of Cornwall Park, was the home of Sir Campbell, and built in 1841 it is Auckland's oldest wooden house. Huia Lodge, built in 1903 the Queen Anne Revival style is now the Park Visitor Centre.

Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) is the largest and most complex volcanic cone fortress in the southern hemisphere. It has hundreds of terraces, food store pits, defensive ditches and banks that for centuries supported a population of 5,000 people. This 183 metre volcano has three craters and a lava field that extends to the Manukau foreshore. Waiohua, the Ngati Whatua Maori fashioned a huge defensive pa here, terracing every slope.

In 1912, John James Boyd opened a zoo in Onehunga. It was popular until neighbours started noticing a smell from the property. Later a lion escaped and although it harmed no one, it created sufficient fear to pressure the zoo to close in 1922. The animals were given to the Auckland Zoo.

The Onehunga Blockhouse, located in Jellicoe Park, is one of 10 small forts build in 1860 to protect Onehunga residents from perceived attacks by Maori. Both houses are open to the public on the first and third Sunday of each month from 1.30pm to 4pm.

Onehunga has the distinction of electing the first woman Mayor in the British Empire, Mrs Elizabeth Yates, in 1893.