Te Ara O Tiriwa - The Pathway of Twiria - The Fringe

An forested urban walk following the coastline of Blockhouse Bay.

Even on a quiet afternoon, Blockhouse Bay is discernably more bustling than the fairy falls walk. Yet with the rahui in place to protect the Waitakere Ranges from the spread of kauri dieback, it’s the suburbs that will have to quench our thirst for exploring. Fortunately, there are some great walks that combine native bush and urban history, and Te Ara O Tiriwa or The Pathway of Twiria is a fine example.

Starting near the Blockhouse Bay shopping centre, it traverses the forested cliffs along the Manukau coast toward Green Bay, connecting beaches, local reserves and some pleasant street walking to form a one and a half hour loop.

The most convenient place to begin is on Gill Crescent, where I park and enter the regenerating bush of Gittos Domain. The dense scrub provides almost instant insulation from the clamour of the shops - a pleasant reminder that even in the suburbs, a sense of isolation is not hard to find.

The domain is a dog exercise area and there are plenty of bush tracks to explore if you have the time. I keep to the main path however, which after 20 minutes of descending steps and gently sloping track, pops out at Blockhouse Bay Road.

From here it’s a brief walk down to the beach, which curves around to the boat club at Te Whau point. Once the site of an extensive Pa, the headland has endured frequent landslides over the years and any middens have been lost or reclaimed by the bush. The Maori inhabitants favoured the location because here, canoes could be hauled over land to the Whau river, thus connecting the Manukau and Waitemata harbours.

I follow the walk round the bay, the picnic area full of families enjoying the hot afternoon. To the right of the playground, the path leads up into the trees and briefly onto Taunton Terrace after which it re-enters the bush and undulates mildly along the coast.

With the sun high and the temperature approaching the late twenties, the puriri and pine dominated forest offers a shady refuge. Karaka, houpara and tarata line the leaf littered track which, although easy and well formed today, is likely to be more challenging in wet weather.

Soon the track climbs out at the western end of Taunton Terrace, offering views toward Cornwallis and the distant Manukau heads. It then continues through the pine and down steps to Green Bay.

Back in the open and the baking sun has the murky waters looking more and more alluring. This beach however is severely polluted and I decide a weeks worth of gastro is too high a price for a cooling swim.

The walk leads inland along Portage Road, crossing Craigavon Park to Armagh Road. I follow this to Gilfillan Street, where once sat the military blockhouse that gave the suburb its name. Built in 1860, it overlooked the Manukau heads in preparation for a potential attack by Taranaki Maori. The invasion never happened and in 1886 it was demolished. Rows of quaint houses now sit in its place.

At the end of the street is the shopping centre. While the walk is practically over here, the village has other relics of history to explore such as the Armanasco House as well as a few cafes and bars.

While you might not expect an urban walk to match the spectacle of those further west, this one does pretty well. And how many Waitakere Ranges walks have the advantage of ending with a cold beer?

Published in the Titirangi Fringe - February Edition