Only a short twenty minute drive from downtown Auckland is one of the most pristine, and in some instances impenetrable, native bush in the North Island. It's practically on the doorstep of over 1.4 million people and yet I wonder how few have actually been there. If we were anything to go by, not many - we've been here nearly two years and have only ventured 'out west' a couple of times. Which is the equivalent of living in Darlington and not bothering your backside to go to the Cleveland Hills.
We have a good reason though. On the couple of occasions we have headed out to the Waitakeres for a walk, sorry tramp, we have been frustrated by the lack of progress. It's easy to forget that, unlike the Cleveland Hills or many of the moors in the UK, the New Zealand bush is dense and largely untouched*.
With running off the cards due to injury, temporarily at least, and the late arrival of winter we found ourselves with a free Sunday so we packed our boots, some sandwiches and slice of Lamington and headed up State Highway 16. It's really surprising because it's only in the last 10km of the journey that the concrete jungle gives was to real jungle.... well bush... but you get what I mean. Even an occasional house to remind you that you're still in the Auckland boundary it's hard to shake the feeling that you are leaving civilisation.
Actually on that point, there are some folk that refuse to accept that Waitakere is now part of the Auckland Super City, which was created over five years ago by the amalgamation of seven distinct cities, or more accurately suburbs. Actually it might have been five. I forget. Anyway it was all very controversial and problems, or 'legacy-issues' are rumbling on even to this day. But whether the Waitakere Ranges, or 'The Waitaks' as some locals would have you believe it should be called, are in Auckland or not, they are definitely distinct.
Created some 20 million or so years ago from volcanic eruptions, the bush-clad Waitakere Ranges are a sight to behold. Steep sided hills, narrow valleys, rushing rivers and impressive black-sand beaches are squeezed into a 25km strip running down the western coast of the Auckland region. In some cases, where 300m tall cliffs plunge into the Tasman Sea, it gives the impression that whoever was left in charge of designing these hills simply ran out of space exclaiming "Ahh bugger it!" and heading off for a well earned weekend break.
What ever the reason, the terrain makes the area very difficult to traverse. Thankfully there are hundreds of walking tracks scattered around the ranges meaning you are never spilt for choice. And if you decide that you've seen 'me all, you leave the path at your peril. Although you're technically only 25km from Auckland, once you leave the track and head off into the dense forest you're on your own mate!
We had not such intentions and steadfastly stuck to the way marked 'Montana Heritage Trail'. Boring it may be, but at least we were guaranteed to turn up for work on Monday morning. Anyway, the trail had treasures to reveal, such as wonderful bird song, huge ferns, occasional glimpses of the sea in the distance and the majestic Kauris. For the uninitiated, Kauris are massive trees. No scratch that, humongous trees, that grow nearly perfectly vertical and have trunks the size of something that's very big indeed, some of which have been standing for over 1000 years. There would've been a lot more were it not for the intervention of humans who immediately recognised their use for superb building material, and the devastating Kauri Die-back disease that threatens these forest giants. And the fear of spreading the disease is why there are disinfectant stations at entry/exit points and boardwalks to prevent contact with the tree roots. It might seem like a bit of a faff but who would want to be responsible for destroying a tree that has stood for millennia. No, not me either.
As was usual for a walk in the Waitakeres, an advertised 8km tramp soon became 9km and the digits on the GPS unit were nudging 10km by the time we got back to the car; the sandwiches had long since been eaten and the Lamington was but a distant memory.
It was a worthwhile diversion from running and served to remind us why we came to New Zealand. Work is work but the Waitakeres are something else.
* you can insert your own joke about virgin bush here but I wouldn't dream of stooping to such low levels
