Walk 65, 26th April 2021
This park is a working farm on the South Kaipara Peninsula. The walk leads to a remote beach filled with birds like Oyster Catchers, Godwits, Terns, Herons and Black Swans. The view over the Kaipara Harbour is stunning.
We didn’t see a lot of Puriri trees, considering how the park is named.
I recommend starting the walk outside the car park by the stockyard. It’s not such an uphill slog on the way back going in that direction.
Walk: Auckland Walk 10
Links
Te Rau Puriri Regional Park – an introduction | Auckland Council
South Kaipara Landcare – Te Rau Puriri (Regional Park)
Auckland Council’s farms featured on Country Calendar
Birds in the area: NZ Bird Atlas
Farm History
Four tribes that are known to have inhabited the South Kaipara Head from the time of earliest settlement, including; Te Kawerau-a-Maki, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara. Radiocarbon ages estimates indicate at
least 800 years of settlement and occupation. – After Davidson, J. (1984) The Prehistory of New Zealand.
During the early 1800s, the battle of Te Ika-a Ranganui led to the virtual total abandonment of the Kaipara area by Māori (Spring-Rice, W. 1996. Māori Settlement on the South Kaipara Peninsula). In 1837, Māori began to reclaim their ancestral lands in the region. Source:
NZShortWalks 