- Distance
- 16km
- Time
- 4-5hr
- Grade
- Easy/Moderate
- Access
- from the viaduct in Auckland City or from Onehunga Bay Reserve
Is it really tramping if you never leave the city? Alistair Hall walks Auckland’s Coast to Coast Walkway to find out
Cape Brett has one. So does Cape Reinga. There’s one on the tip of the Coromandel and a huge 66km one down in Canterbury that takes five days and traverses St James Conservation Park. Walkways are everywhere. Even in Auckland. The notion you can walk from one side of New Zealand to the other, from coast to coast, in the space of a few hours is a tantalising prospect for any walker. For three Aucklanders, throwing in the prospect of discovering corners of the city we had never seen before and an ice cold beer at the end of a long hot day, and the Auckland Coast to Coast Walkway suddenly became a must-do. Onehunga Bay Reserve is not your typical trail head. Instead of chirping birds and bush-fringed isolation, you’re greeted with power pylons and the constant rumble of cars and trucks speeding along the South-Western Motorway. We’re here to see if you can get your tramping kicks without leaving New Zealand’s largest city. The walkway is no small fry; it’s 16km – more than many, but less than the greats – and involves a little more than 300m of ascent and a bit more descent. But where boots tread groomed trails on the St James Walkway, or sand on the Te Paki Coastal Walkway, hardy Coast to Coasters in Auckland mostly pound pavements. It’s knee-jarring. That’s why we brought our walking poles and heavy duty boots. The terrain might not be difficult, but it sure is hard. Boots laced, gaiters tied, walking poles extended, we begin our tramp by dipping our hands in the Manukau Harbour – or more accurately what would have been the Manukau Harbour had the South-Western Motorway not blocked access. The plan was to do the same when we reached the Waitemata. A ceremonial touching of water to celebrate walking from one side of New Zealand to the other. We follow the foreshore of the Onehunga Bay Reserve for all of 20m before leaving this nominal natural setting to cross the road where the first climb of the day awaits. Normans Hill Road is steep but the lovely character villas lining the street help make it a pleasant amble. [caption id="attachment_4362" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]


