Tag: remnant

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.

Flat Bush: Auckland’s big new town

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

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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.”

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.

At the Makaretu cemetery

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