Manukau coastal walks

Manukau Harbour - Te Manuka o Hoturoa

Named after the discovery of the harbour and its people by the Tainui waka, the Manukau Harbour offers the gift of reconnection with the natural world. It has a touch of wilderness, an untamed quality: it is vast and deals with massive forces and yet is so often peaceful and gentle. An hour spent walking, looking, absorbing or resting along the foreshore refreshes the mind.

The Tainui and Aotea waka were hauled across the portage at Otahuhu, from the Tamaki river to Manukau Harbour, before ending their journeys deep in the Waikato and Taranaki. Some from the waka stayed here and married locals descended from earlier voyagers such as Te Tini o Toi -‘the multitude of Toi’. The descendants of these people continue to acknowledge the spirit of the Manukau kaitiaki (guardian), Kaiwhare.

By the mid 19th century, European settlers had established a trading post under the protection of rangatira, Apihai Te Kawau. Onehunga became a major service and industrial centre distributing Maori produce delivered from the Waikato region. Fearing invasion from the north, the Governor established the first military settlement at Mangere with Nga-ti Mahuta. Other military settlements followed later with immigrants, in preparation for the invasion of the Waikato in 1863.

After the Land Wars great floating rafts of kauri logs were towed to sawmills, boats serviced scattered settlements, and the harbour was, until the late 19th century, a regular call for both coastal and overseas shipping.

Once the giant kauri forests of the Waitakere ranges had been exhausted, the use of the harbour fell away. Today, sandbars and treacherous currents discourage shipping.

Treasures of the past - Te Wao Nui O Taane Mahuta

The narrow ribbon of coastal forest along the Manukau foreshore has important remnants of Auckland’s original vegetation.

Wattle Bay and Wesley Bay tucked away on the harbour’s edge were considered too poor for farming. The flora and fauna escaped the worst volcanic activity and land clearance. These are the largest stands of original native forest remaining on the Auckland Isthmus.

Pohutakawa and kowharawhara forms an almost continual ribbon along the water’s edge, large numbers of kowhai attract masses of tui, and a host of other native plants provide for endangered wildlife. In spring the intoxicating spicy scent of the hangehange plant dominates almost every track in the region.

Nga Tai O Rakataura - The tides of Rakataura, a tohunga who arrived on the Tainui who is also remembered with Karanga Hape, the pa that stood on the distant headland of Puponga at Cornwallis.

Along the shoreline, numerous shellfish, marine snails and crabs reflect the fertility of the harbour’s marine environment. Vast numbers of birds swoop and stalk the mudflats.

Each of the walks has a low-tide option. You can avoid it, but the harbour edge is to be savoured, not feared. For at least six hours during daylight, a wide, clean pathway is revealed. Most of the routes are along rock shelving covered with green or brown algae, and are slippery and dangerous. Sharp oyster shells are a feature of the area.

Tidal routes

Most sections can be traversed in two to three hours on either side of low tide.
Check the weather page in daily newspapers for tide times, (look for Onehunga or Manukau Heads high-tide figures and deduct or add six hours to get low-tide times.

Going the distance

For committed foreshore walkers, on the low tide route, the distance between Blockhouse Bay and Onehunga is nine kilometres and can be done in about four and a half hours. You need to be self sufficient with gear and supplies: boots, warm clothing, wet weather gear, food and water. Cafés are available at both ends. There are numerous exits along the way if you change your mind.