Coast to Coast Walk

We started 2025 off with a walk across the country of New Zealand! The Coast to Coast Walk goes from the Waitematā Harbour to the Tasman Sea. The walk one way was supposed to be about 9.63 miles, but it isn’t well marked, so we actually walked 13 miles across the country. Thanks to Google maps and helpful New Zealanders, we were able to get back on track at several points. This was an amazing adventure and we walked through parks, suburbs, city streets and many areas of cultural significance to the Māori people.

Once we reached the end of our walk, we debated taking a bus back to our place, but decided to walk as far as we felt we could and ended up walking all of the way back home. We did not retrace our steps up and down the volcanoes, but followed Google Maps for a more direct route. We figured that we could stop in at a cafe or two on the way back to rest, but it turns out that January 2nd is also a holiday and so most places were closed. No matter, we had plenty of water and some snacks and were able to complete the 20.5 total miles.

Here are some snapshots of our walk:

Here is the Auckland Bowling Club. This was taken as we are headed out of the city and through our first big park. The kind couple that helped us find the trail were headed to the bowling club.

The yellow arrow at the bottom of the sign is what we are looking for and following. It is easy to miss them and not all places are clearly marked with the arrow. If you start from the other coast, you will follow the blue arrows.

The Winter garden is one of the places where we got turned around, but it was worth the stop. There were beautiful flowers inside and outside and then we went to the Fernery where we heard a Parson Bird. Their call is really rich and interesting.

We eventually found the path again and continued our hike toward Maungawhau or Mount Eden. This is the heights volcano in Auckland and the views were stunning. It is a sacred place to the Māori people and so cars are no longer allowed to drive up. It is a steep climb, but totally worth it. We did take a wrong turn heading down the mountain and added a mile or so to our trip.

We got to the Epsom neighborhood and decided it was time to rest and to find some food. We found an amazing cafe called Beso where we had some great burgers and George had his very first Flat White, which originated in New Zealand…or maybe Australia. The guys running this cafe were terrific and so this turned out to be a great place to stop and rest before heading to Maungakiekie or One Tree Hill.

One the way up the next Volcano - Maungakiekie there were lots of families celebrating the holiday and we also saw sheep and I made friends with a cow. This was another steep climb and it was very windy at the top. Throughout the day we experienced bouts of intense sun, intense rain and intense wind. Many people carry umbrellas with them, but as proud Washingtonians, we did not and just got a bit wet throughout the day.

The remainder of the hike (or tramp) was less steep and wound through neighborhoods and parks. The end of the trail was not well marked which felt rather anticlimactic after such a long day of walking. We did take a picture of the bay and created our own celebratory moment!