Auckland maunga

A few weeks ago we took a small trip around Panmure and Glen Innes taking in Maungarei (Mt Wellington in old imperial-speak). This one started in Westmere, across Jagger’s Bush Reserve, through Western Springs, through the Arch Hill cycle tracks, up Maungawhau (Mt Eden), Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) and Owairaka (Mt Albert. I’m wondering why it isn’t called Maungawairaka or something like that).

 

Jaggers Bush is quite good, but there’s only a short rideable section and then you have to negotiate your way up and down some steps to the track beside the sports fields, so it’s probably best to leave that one for the walkers. Western Springs tracks are great for slow moving family rides but watch out for chilodren, old folks, Asian tourists photographing ducks and each other and ducks, geese and swans. Arch Hill has some interesting single track rides which we couldn’t do on the day because it had been very wet the week beforre so I’ll hop over there again some fi9ne day and give myself a workout on them.

 

You can get to Maugawhau mostly on side roads, and the ride up is easy enough (power level 4, but I could have used 2 with granny gear just as easily), and there’s a certain smugness to being able to get to the summit on wheels while the car-bound mob have to walk the last few hundred metres.

 

Getting to Maungakiekie is a bit more fraught because you have to negotiate some main roads like Gillies Ave and Manukau Rd, but once you get across to Puriri Dr you could easily spend half a day cruising around the parks, sharing with slow moving cars. The summit is a bit of 4-power stretch.

 

Running out of time we by-passed Puketapapa (Mt Roskill) and went straight for Owairaka. Summit Rd is no problem, and the ring road around the craters is easy and undulating, providing great 360 degree views of the whole city from a different, less touristy angle, and then it was an easy ride past the the Motat planes back to the car.

 

Total distance: 39.51 km
Max elevation: 199 m
Min elevation: 1 m
Total climbing: 1375 m
Total descent: -1365 m
Average speed: 17.39 km/h
Total time: 04:41:06
Download file: maunga-eden-albert.gpx

Maungakiekie

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Maungakiekie

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