Mahurangi is 51km north of Auckland, took us about an hour to get there, with the stop for coffee of course. The park is divided into three 'fingers' and is a mixture of sheltered bays, native bush and open pasture. Straddling the Mahurangi harbour it's popular with boats, several popped in while we were there and when we last came at New Years it was full of boats around the place.
Using the handy leaflet and map I can tell you the park area was the ancestral home of Ngati Rongo and there are fortified pa sites at Opahi, Cudlip and Te Muri points. In the 1870s a sea captain, John Sullivan, married Merehai Kaipuke and settled at Otarawao, now called Sullivans Bay.
The handy map leaflet combo also list walks around the park. We opted for the Cudlip Point Loop Track, 3km, up, around, down, around some more, up again and down again. Perfect for warming up my dodgy hip.
However the best bit and the wind of the day was the swim. It was a sunny autumn day and in Auckland that can be quite warm, around 20 degrees C. Salt water in one shape or another is the answer to most ails in life, so the dodgy hip, tired apathy and all that needed a swim in the sea. Adam was dubious but I packed all the gear and how amazing. There was some cloud, and we were the only people in the water. It was luscious, calm, warm enough to enjoy and just wonderful......and breathe.
Picnic lunch and reading, then the walk, then some more reading with hot herb tea and homemade feijoa loaf. A wonderful autumnal mixture that really couldn't be bettered. Well, the sleep in the car on the way home totally topped it off, but Adam was driving so I didn't want to brag so much about that.
I'm now asking myself, if my walks can be like this, why am I only on number seven?
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