Exploring the Opanuku Stream - The Fringe

A short urban walk around a restored urban stream.

Although not quite the same tourist draw card as a glamorous beach or mountain, there are few things more quintessentially kiwi than the humble urban creek. For prior generations, the mysterious, eel-filled rivulets are often key features of childhood – places to play, dream and shelter; close enough to home to be safe, removed enough to feel like the wilderness.

The Opanuku Stream in Henderson is a classic example. Starting as a trickle in the Waitakeres and ending in an estuary in the Waitemata, it was used heavily in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a recreational area and supply line to Auckland.

As with many waterways however, it became degraded as rural became urban and the town became a suburb. Until 2003 that is, when the community initiative Project Twin Streams began to restore it to a healthier state.

It now exists as an ecological corridor and features a network of walks and cycle ways connecting it with nearby Oratia Stream and Henderson Creek in a variable urban circuit.

Starting in the middle at Corbans Estate Art Centre, I cross the bridge over to Henderson Park where the paved cycle way cuts across the field. I however take the gravel path to the right and follow the left bank of the stream through thickets of native bush and under several tall macrocarpa.

Not long after, I cross a bridge and proceed up the right side of the stream. The murky brown water flows quietly by, groups of mallards drifting on its surface. Despite its opacity and the occasional piece of litter snagged on a fallen trunk, the restored stream supports a variety of threatened native species including, koura (fresh water crayfish) eels and even pekapeka (long tailed bats) which use the space above the water to move and hunt.

The trees grow progressively larger as I move onward into Plumer Domain; karaka, totora and even kahikatea (our tallest native tree) rise out of the swampy soil which appears flooded in some places from the recent severe weather. In fact, many of the shrubs and grasses along the banks look bent and twisted, evidence of the streams capacity to become a fierce torrent in heavy rain.

The Opanuku has been prone to flooding throughout its history, washing away dams and large sections of earth. Since Project Twin Streams began however hundreds of thousands of native trees have been planted by volunteers to stabilise the banks, prevent erosion and filter out toxins from storm water.

After 40 minutes or so the path ends at Palimino drive and continues on the left side of the bridge along the paved cycle way through Henderson Valley Park. Here the reserve is more open and grassy with the stream concealed by a verge of trees. Farms and vineyards soon start to appear adjacent, vestiges of a time when Henderson Valley was known as the garden of Auckland.

I wind along through the reserve for another 20 minutes, passing art features built by Project Twin Streams until I reach Henderson Valley Rd. Here the path ends, or can be extended by walking 30 minutes down Parrs Cross Rd to Oratia Stream.

I look over the bridge at the Opanuku. Closer to its source, its waters are now much clearer, fresh from its cascade down the forested hills. The tourists may not come flocking, but streams and creeks like this have had an essential and nostalgic role in our history. It’s encouraging to see their significance restored.

Published in the Titirangi Fringe March Edition.