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Tahuna Torea walking trails
Introduction
| Trails
| History
| Additional information
| Walking trail map
| Walkway upgrade
Introduction
Tahuna Torea introduces you to 25 hectares of unique wildlife sited on a long sand bank extending out into the Tamaki
Estuary. It is rich in Maori history as well as native birds and vegetation. Time spent weaving through the network of
tracks and the various habitats offer a peaceful sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Trails
There are three main walking trails around the reserve and you can walk them separately or together. The average time
to walk around the entire area including the Sandspit is one and a half hours, but you can enjoy a walk around the bush
tracks or lagoon in as little as 40 minutes.
Keen bird-watchers should check tide movements beforehand. The best time to view wading birds is between full-tide and
half-tide from November to March.
You can reach the reserve by sign-posted steps that lead down from Vista Crescent or from the carpark at the end of
West Tamaki Road. Both the shelter and nearby freshwater pond can be reached by wheelchair from the carpark.
The reserve can also be reached on foot by following the path along the shoreline from the Beverley Hills shops, at the
intersection of Riddell Road and Roberta Avenue.
Upper and lower bush tracks
From the West Tamaki Road entrance, turn left past the observation shelter, then follow the boardwalk. Enter the
woodland above the willow pond where fantails dart around catching insects disturbed by people walking along the track.
Note the groves of Totara, Puriri and a line of Kauri above the track. Here you pass the Christine Barfoot Memorial seat.
Mrs Barfoot was one of the enthusiasts who helped develop the reserve.
A short distance further steps lead up to the Godwit Lookout, which provides excellent views of the lagoon and meadow.
The walk soon divides into the upper and lower tracks. Take the left-hand turn or upper bush track and continue up through
bush to the Sylvia Reed Memorial seat, which is an excellent spot to observe birds in the lagoon and on the Sandspit.
Sylvia Reed, an ornithologist, carried out a large amount of research on birds in the reserve.
The track continues through Manuka, Kanuka and other flowering shrubs to a small ponga grove then descends into a bushed
valley and crosses a stream before rising to the Sandspit lookout. This has spectacular views of the entire reserve,
especially to the Fish Dam and Sandspit Beach, as well as the estuary mouth and Musick Point. On the northern side of the
lookout is the site of a former Maori camp for food gathering expeditions, now protected as an historic area. The eroding
shore at the edge of this flat reveals several middens.
From the Lookout, you can clearly see several different lines of rushes and mangroves jutting out into the Fish Dam.
These are thought to mark the remains of former dams that trapped fish at the top end of the lagoon on the rising tide. The
dams were opened at the far end to allow water and fish to come in, and then sealed at high tide. The present fish weir is
a reconstruction but, unlike the original Maori dam, extends across the lagoon as a causeway.
From the Lookout, go down the steps to rejoin the Lower Bush Track. A short walk alongside the fish dam will take you
out to the Sandspit Beach before returning along this track. Circle around a swamp on the boardwalk and cross a small
stream before entering denser bush alongside another swamp. At the turn-off to the Fish Dam causeway (which leads out to
the Sandspit Beach and to the Lagoon Walk), continue straight ahead along a boardwalk which curves around young kahikatea
and cabbage trees. Passing the junction of the upper track, return to the West Tamaki Road carpark.
Sandspit beach walk
Visitors can reach the 1.5km beach from (a)the Vista Crescent entrance, (b)the sealed walkway from Riddell Road, near
the Beverley Hills shops, or (c)from West Tamaki Road, going along the Lower Bush Track then crossing the Fish Dam on
the causeway.
From Vista Crescent, the first part of the beach walk passes alongside the Fish Dam where stilts, herons, kingfishers
and ducks may be seen feeding on the plentiful supplies of fish. Finches gather on the salt marsh at the head of the dam.
Continue along the beach, passing groves of young pohutukawa.
At low tide, the spit extends well out into the river towards Bucklands Beach. Visitors may return to West Tamaki Road
at low tide by crossing the mudflats to the Cable Beacon Point.
Dam top and lagoon walk
The Dam Top walk starts beside the freshwater pond at the West Tamaki Road entrance. The pond was formerly a paddock and
has been created by building a dam on the seaward side. Walk along the dam observing ducks and pukeko feeding and swallows
catching insects on the wing. Groynes along the shore protect the pond from erosion and form a series of sandy beaches,
good for swimming and picnicking.
At the end of the dam, a boardwalk curves over a small swamp of flax and cabbage trees. Pass through the pohutukawa
trees then, after visiting the Reg Connelly Lookout on Cable Beacon Point, turn left just before Cable Beacon Point onto
the lagoon walk. Fringed by mangroves, the lagoon contains the Godwit Islands and Lockley Island, which were built as high
tide roosts for wading birds. This walk is a good place to observe waders in summer.
The Lagoon Walk joins the boardwalk near the Fish Dam and Lagoon Lookout with the Lockley Memorial seat. You can turn
left and return to West Tamaki Road via the lower bush track or continue across the causeway to the Sandspit Beach.
History
Tahuna Torea means 'gathering place of the oyster-catcher'. This Maori name for this Glen Innes reserve is taken from
the original name for the Sandspit - the most prominent landmark on the coastal reserve.
In pre-European times, Tahuna-Torea was a good gathering site for the then local tangata whenua, Ngati Paoa. Their food
sources included shellfish, fish and birds. Evidence of their activities includes middens of pipi shells above the beach
and the dams constructed at the head of the lagoon to catch fish. It was also an important strategic site being near the
mouth of the Tamaki River (Wai o Taiki) and the shortest route for canoes to travel between the Waitemata and Manukau
Harbours.
Today the mangrove lagoon, swampland and beach offer refuge to a variety of endangered native birds. The godwits that
gather here between seasonal migrations back to the Northern Hemisphere are particularly notable.
Additional information
Environmental care code | Getting there and home again
Environmental care code:
Please protect our plants, wildlife and natural heritage:
- remove rubbish
- keeps streams and the sea clean
- keep to the track (respect private property)
- do not light fires
- click here or
contact us for information about
whether dogs are allowed in this reserve.
Toitu te whenua - leave the land undisturbed.
Getting there and home again:
For information on catching buses, trains and ferries in Auckland
visit the MAXX website
For parking information: click here or
contact us.
Walking trail map
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| Tahuna Torea walking trail map |
|
Walkway upgrade
Auckland City Council is upgrading the Tahuna Torea Reserve walkway to make it safer and more enjoyable for the public to use.
The work will involve:
- replacing a pedestrian bridge
- upgrading sections of boardwalk.
Parts of the walkway will be closed while work is underway. Signs will be in place to let people know which sections of the walkway are off limits.
Work is expected to begin in mid November 2007 and to be complete by the end of January 2008.
