Murphy’s Bush, Auckland

Walk #188, 1st April 2026

Murphy’s Bush in the Auckland suburb of Flatbush at 26 hectares is the largest remaining lowland bush remnant in Auckland. The forest used to have fields all around it until a population the size of my city got jammed into the area.

The reserve is now an oasis in a featureless desert of high density housing. It would be interesting to see who stayed after the bulldozers razed the original houses. Apart from the bush and the old Flatbush School Hall, the area has been completely transformed, in accordance with the neo-liberal “new Auckland plan.” The culture and character of the original community has been lost.

I am glad Murphys Bush is protected. The forest was preserved and gifted to the Manukau City Council in 1981 by the Murphy family. The reserve is divided by a road, most is on the left of Murphy’s Road. It’s a haven for birds and for people who want a quiet place to walk.

What I did notice in this tiny bush remnant was the bird noise. We could hear the native birds, unlike the silent forests managed by DOC. Unlike other countries, DOC uses cruel 1080 poison for pest control, killing the birds along with the predators. We’ve noted the difference on our walks.

Walk: Auckland 42

Links

Wikipedia – Murphy’s Bush

As one of Auckland’s newest housing areas, Flat Bush complies with the aims of the new Auckland Plan which calls for more medium and high density housing. As a result, the area is taking on an “exciting but very different look” from the traditional quarter acre pavlova paradise of old New Zealand.
East Auckland Tourism

Stancombe Cottage
The small heritage cottage was moved from its site next to the Buddhist temple on Stancombe Road in 2011 and restored by Howick Local Board for community use.
Stancombe Cottage

2016
“A concrete carpet is being rolled over the former paddocks of Flat Bush, in Auckland’s south east.
The city has spread to make room for its growing population and as newcomers – many from China and India – moved to Flat Bush en mass, original dwellers have had to adapt or abscond.
Most lifestyle blocks on its urban fringe have already been snapped up by local and Chinese property developers, who have granted temporary leases to residents before bulldozers take over.”
Stuff: Flat Bush: Auckland’s big new town
In the article one of the original residents, an elderly man named Elton asked neighbours to help with the search for his dog Sophie, “but not one of them spoke English.”

Jubilee Park, Hamilton

Walk #171, 10th September 2025

Jubilee Park, known locally as Claudelands Bush, is a tiny bush remnant of what was a 200-hectare forest, dominated by Kahikatea, Rimu and Matai. Development has seen the forest shrink over the years to its current size, with some of the remaining trees part of the original forest.

The park is also home to the endangered long tailed bat, the pekapeka, one of New Zealand’s only mammals.

Walk: Hamilton 17

Links

Long tailed bats: Andrew Styche, from the Department of Conservation (DOC), thinks bats have mostly survived in Hamilton thanks to tiny islands of remnant bush within the city limits.

“There’s not much original vegetation left around here so it is amazing they’ve survived,” Andrew says.

Urban bats: Long-tailed bats thriving in Hamilton

History

From the signboard, the land was originally a renowned native bird forest hunting area. The first inhabitants of the area were the Mokohape, a sub-tribe of an extensive tribal group known as Nga Iwi (the people). They were replaced by Tainui people from Mokau and Kawhia.

In the 1800s battles were fought against Te Rauparaha from the west, Ngapuhe from the north and then the British in the Waikato land wars of the 1860s.

With European settlement, Francis Claude subdivided the land in 1870 and the suburb became known as Claudelands.

The Mokohape

Mokohape refers to a figure depicted on carved pou (posts) outside a casino in Hamilton, New Zealand, which represents a tribe of the Nga Iwi people who once lived on the Waikato River before being conquered by Ngaati Wairere, who occupied the land from since the mid to late 16th century.

The pou features a carved face and a lizard, symbolizing the Mokohape people’s struggle for survival and eventual displacement, an event captured by the proverb,“People may disappear but the land remains.” Source: Google AI

The ancient name of the Waikato River

The ancient name of the Waikato river was ‘Te Awanui O Taikehu,’ meaning the big river of Taikehu.

I wonder if it’s the same Taikehu who was the chief of a Taranaki tribe living at Patea Heads when the Aotea canoe arrived? The Patea River was also named ‘Te Awa nui a Taikehu.’ According to Tainui tradition Taikeu was a a tohunga of the Tainui waka. There are a few placenames associated with this name; the full name of Motutapu Island – the island east of Auckland is ‘Motutapu-o-Taikehu,‘ the sacred island of Taikehu. There’s also a lake Taikehu in the Bay of Plenty between Whakatane and Kawerau.

Mangatoro Reserve

Walk: #160, 20th Feb 2025

The Mangatoro Scenic Reserve is just down the Ngapaeruru Road, 11 km from Dannevirke along the Weber Road. This is a 8 hectare reserve that contains some good sized kahikatea as well as matai, totara and rimu.

There’s supposed to be a giant Totara, said to be one of the largest in New Zealand. We didn’t see it. The reserve is not well looked after. There were no native birds to be heard, only magpies. The trail had not been maintained. The walk by the stream was overgrown with creepers, forcing us to go back the way we came. There was a tree over one of the paths. There had been no trapping in the reserve but it’s probably too small for the native birds anyway.

The reserve badly needs kaitiake (guardians) and maintenance.

Walk: Hawkes Bay 35

Links

Tararua.com : Mangatoro Scenic Reserve

Monckton Reserve, Ashley Clinton, Hawkes Bay

Walk #76, 28th December 2021

This beautiful reserve is the remnant of a forest that used to cover the area. The trees are kahikatea (white pine), totara, beech, matai, tawa and kowhai. The track forms a figure of 8 loop which we had a bit of trouble figuring out. We took the loop which follows the Tangarewai stream.

There’s a large covered shelter and barbeque area at the entrance to the walk, provided by the Takapau Lions Club.

My ancestors settled in this area and cleared the bush on the Ruataniwha plains for farmland. I’m glad this and nearby A’Deanes Bush were spared the axe and the forests also survived the bush fires in the 1880’s.

Walk: Hawkes Bay 33

My friends on this walk are distant cousins, we three are descended from the same German couple and were there to learn some history.

Links

Monckton Walkway

History

In 1871, 250,000 acres (101,171 hectares) was purchased from the Maori for the Seventy Mile Bush, and this land was settled by assisted immigrants from Denmark, Norway and Sweden in 1872. The Danes had no experience in felling forests, but all the groups managed to clear the land and establish small farms. The townships of Norsewood, Dannevirke and Woodville were located on the new road and rail route through the bush.
Hawkes Bay region, Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of NZ

My Great-Great Grandfather Wilhelm Dassler wanted to settle on the rail route at Makotuku, but instead was allocated land at Makaretu, an out of the way settlement where he had to carve his farm out of the bush.

I know they were affected by the bush fires of 1885-86.

NEW ZEALAND’S BURNING — THE SETTLERS’ WORLD IN THE MID 1880S

Mangaweka

Walk 26 and 27, Mangaweka, 1st Jan 2020

Mangaweka is a sleepy place where the Rangitikei River flows past cliffs of white papa. The very grandly named main street of Mangaweka is now devoid of traffic since State Highway 1 bypassed the main street in the late 1970s.

It’s a town where time seems to have stopped. The unaltered buildings in “Broadway” are from a previous century.

Many buildings stand empty, but Mangaweka still has a school, library, hotel, and a DC3 plane on the main highway which operated as a tearoom.

Manga means stream and weka means woodhen.

Mangaweka was one of the first towns on the North Island Main Trunk Railway to get electricity. The Mangaweka Power Station project commenced in 1911, originally it was intended to serve as a water resevoir.

Little remains of the tiny power station and a small building containing historic photos shelters the site. The walk to the resevoir intake is across the road. The path is through a beautiful small gorge which follows the Mangawharaiki River. The resevoir is intact but the brick-lined intake tunnel to the right is blocked by a log which wedged there in 1937, causing the power station to finally close down.

Mangaweka street panorama -resized — Broadway, Mangaweka

Walk: Manawatu 22

Mangaweka Scenic Reserve

I think there was supposed to be a viewing point by a Kahikatea tree but we couldn’t find it. The track is not well maintained. The walks are not clearly marked but there’s a good view of the town of Mangaweka from the road by the entrance. Part of the walk is on the old main trunk railway line which is littered with broken pieces of the white papa rock. There’s a large matai and other trees like rimu, tawa and titoki trees in the reserve.

Mangaweka panorama -resized