Before Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges were closed because of kauri dieback disease – and closed again during a year of fierce storms and slips – there were 239km of walkable tracks there.
The ranges are huge, blanketing the west of the city and a world away from its bustle. They cover 17,200 hectares and are part of a total of 28,000 hectares of heritage area blessed with parklands and mature forest.
Gradually those tracks are reopening – 97km so far, and hopefully that number will reach 100km by Christmas.
But as they do, hikers are encountering a new type of walk, with manicured paths and boardwalks, and bridges and stairs in place of muddy tracks, tree roots and stream crossings.
It’s opened them up to families, casual walkers, and one day it’s hoped one of the best of them will accommodate wheelchairs.
But some trampers are grumpy about the new, flash tracks, complaining they’ve taken too long to get back up and running because of the heavy over-engineering in them.
“I think for some people the experience of walking in the Waitakere [Ranges] will now never be the same,” says Alistair Hall, the editor of Wilderness magazine.
“But overall … I think people would be very happy that the tracks are open and the type of surface that they’re walking on is a minor consideration when you consider the tracks were closed.
“So you couldn’t walk them; and now you can, and who really cares if it’s got some gravel and some boardwalks. It’s just lovely to be out there.”
Hall says some tracks elsewhere – he names the concrete path to Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel Peninsula as one – have become so bulletproof that they’re not nearly as enjoyable.
“But what’s the alternative?
“If you want Aucklanders in their tens of thousands to go and enjoy these places, there is a risk that kauri dieback disease could be spread through dirty footwear. There’s the erosion issues that also come with that number of people using trails, and we’re probably going to see that happen to a greater extent with the warming climate, greater rainfall and larger storm events.
“If you’re talking about somewhere far more remote, in the South Island or the Tararua Range, yeah I’d probably have more questions about it, because you do want the challenge and you want the feeling of really pushing yourself, trying hard at something. That’s all what makes tramping a really great, fun pastime.
“I guess it’s about making compromises. We all strive to be on a track perhaps that we don’t share with anybody else. It’s very hard to do that in a city of 1.5 million people.
“I think any opportunity to get people into the bush, to see these views, to hear the birdsong, and breathe the fresh air is fabulous, and we shouldn’t really dwell too much on the track surface.”
An unknown number of these tracks will never reopen, but Auckland Council is working hard to rebuild the Hillary Trail, currently closed as a multi-day track. Part of it from Te Henga Bethells Beach to Muriwai is unlikely to ever be operational again, due to severe slips.
Auckland Council principal ranger for the Waitakeres, David Markham, says eventually the trail will curl inland and finish at the Cascade Kauri park, which is where he’s taking The Detail in today’s podcast.
We’ll be doing the Te Piringa Walk (also known as the Auckland City Walk) which is an easy 2km loop with a recently repaired bridge that was damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle and had cut the track in two halves. This is the track that is eventually hoped to be fully accessible, allowing wheelchair users to immerse themselves in some spectacular scenery and bird life.
But before we start there’s a cleaning station to navigate.
“It’s vitally important that we do not spread soil,” says Markham.
“So we have the pathogen, phytophthora agathidicida, that’s present and lives in the soils in the Waitakere Ranges.”
It was discovered in the Waitakeres around 2006-2008 and it’s still there. A staggering 45 percent of the kauri here have been negatively impacted, says Markham.
“It will take some time to better understand the rate of spread.
“That pathogen gets into the kauri root systems. It makes the root systems rot, which means that the water and nutrients can’t progress up the trunks of the trees, so effectively they starve to death. So by carefully cleaning our footwear it means that we are reducing the likelihood of bringing spores into the area and spreading them into the Ranges.”
Cleaning your boots isn’t just good practice, it’s a requirement under the Controlled Area Notice under the Biosecurity Act 1992.
“It’s very much still out there and we must continue these measures that we have,” says Markham.
There’s a stark example here of what happens when dieback hits. A few hundred metres after passing a magnificent 1000-year-old kauri, we get to “Aunt Agatha” (named after the pathogen) which is about the same age, and is clearly dead.
Also in today’s podcast Markham talks about the composite plastic boardwalks, why they’re being used, and what precautions are taken during construction to stop microplastics entering the environment.
And he reassures us that ongoing research is being done on how to stop dieback.
Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.
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