Manukau coastal walks

Introduction | Manukau Harbour | Blockhouse Bay explorer | Lynfield Cove ramble | Waikowhai circles | Hillsborough Bay circuit | Additional information

Hillsborough Bay circuit

Duration: allow 2 & 1/2 hours
Classification: walking track and tramping track.

Onehunga was a major Maori settlement right up to the 1840s. Later it became a major trade centre as Maori delivered goods from the fertile Waikato region destined for the burgeoning Auckland market.

Hillsborough was originally a farm held by James Hill from Belfast who planned a grand town based on his property. The dream didn’t materialise, but his name still graces the area while Frederick and Carlton streets remember his sons.

The suggested route begins by the Onehunga lagoon. This area was once open to the harbour, and called Te Puheatanga o Te Ata, ‘The blowing back of Te Ata’. Here Te Ata’s attempt to cross the harbour was thwarted when her waka was blown back by strong winds sent by jealous relatives. Later known as Mill Bay it was a busy place with all manner of boats hauling supplies in and out.

Walk across the reserve to the pedestrian bridge over the motorway. Follow Seacliffe Road and Carlton Street as they rise high for views of the harbour, then walk across Hillsborough Park and through the school to Belfast Reserve. This lovely gully of mainly native forest also has large specimens of pines, redwoods and gums. Lobbying by local residents convinced the Council to buy the reserve in the 1960s and they continue to enjoy and watch over it.

After descending for some minutes, take the right turn and climb to Goodall Street and the Hillsborough Cemetery. A steep track drops into the next gully and climbs the other side. Some of the best views of the harbour are from the upper parts of the cemetery. Feel free to wander. The volcanic cone of Te Ara Pueru - Mount Mangere dominates the outlook.

Drop down Hoskins Avenue to Te Tapere, ‘Family meeting house’, left at the end, into Foote Street and follow the shell pathway down. Taylor’s Bay is an attractive small beach within the larger Hillsborough Bay. The return low-tide route heads across soft mud for five minutes and then along a rock-shelf for the rest of the way. Watch for the old wooden sand barge on the last point. This section takes half an hour.

Triangular structures called sheerlegs once stood in Hillsborough Bay for boats to lean against at low tide. One story says a sleepy helmsman steered his boat to one side of a sheerleg while the barge that he was towing passed on the other side. The taut line swung both craft around toward each other and the boat was sunk by its own barge in a head-on collision.

Alternative to low-tide route: From Taylor’s Bay, follow Frederick Street and Seacliffe Road back to the pedestrian overbridge.