Milford-Takapuna Coastal Track

Most weekends, weather permitting, we find somewhere to walk. It used to be that I would normally want to head for the forest or a rugged coastline, or over the hills at a regional park. These days, though, I find that walking absolutely anywhere is, well, just great! And this is because of my recently-acquired love affair with my fixed 50mm lens. I just aim, at anyone or anything, and click, on the move, from the hip, and even through the viewfinder. It makes the promise of a relatively ordinary afternoon turn into a series of unexpected events, of hits and highs and complete misses. One recent afternoon typified this, on a walk we have only just discovered, the section of coastal track linking Milford Beach to Takapuna. The North Shore Coastal Track runs from Long Bay, just down the road from where we live in Torbay, all the way to Devonport, a long haul that would take all day — maybe more. Having neither the time nor inclination for such a trek we randomly chose the Milford bit. It turned out be a fascinating choice, not least because of the magnificent houses that hug the rocky coastline. It must be disconcerting living in such homes, though, having endless streams of people gawping at you. The walk is best undertaken at low tide so the rocks and pools are exposed. Geologically, like most of Auckland, the area is volcanic in origin and it has shaped the coastline here in a unique manner. Just inland from the track lies Lake Pupuke — well, it’s a lake now but was once a volcano explosion crater. When it exploded the lava oozed out towards the sea and fossilized a forest, the unique remains of which you see today next to Takapuna Beach car park at low tide.