Karekare – Whatipu Loop
Fact File
Time: 4.5 hours return. Hit a cracking pace on this one.
Distance: 21km.
Total ascent/descent: 300m/300m.
Difficulty: Easy.
Weather: Fine (September 2022).
Accommodation: Day walk. However, there are campsites at Tunnel Point, Pararaha Valley and Whatipu if you wish to stretch the trip out.
Route: From Karekare, head south along the beach to Tunnel Point, then continue to Pararaha Valley. From here head into the bush following the Pararaha, Muir and Gibbons tracks, prior to emerging at Whatipu. From Whatipu, return along the beach north back to Karekare.
Getting there: Karekare is reached from Karekare Road, itself off Piha Road which winds through the Waitakere Ranges from West Auckland. It’s a 45 minute drive from the Auckland CBD (on a good traffic day). Whatipu can be reached by car from Titirangi.
Into the West
When one thinks ‘cracking day walks’, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Or the second. Or anywhere really. But I had six hours and great weather to spare in New Zealand’s largest city so some prior research came in handy. It turned out there weren’t that many options on the table for walks within an hour’s drive beyond the easy beach rambles. There’s basically two options – the Hunua Ranges to the east and the Waitakere Ranges in the west. I liked the sound of the Karekare – Whatipu Loop so out west I went.
Karekare
The drive into the Ranges is worth it on its own – slowly the city recedes as the road curls into the hills through subtropical forest. Karekare Beach itself is a popular place at weekends for Aucklanders looking to get away from it all. Flooding from Karekare Stream has caused some damage close to the coast, but paling compared to the harm caused by kauri dieback disease. Here more than anywhere else in the North Island has the impact been felt hardest. Numerous tracks closed and high vigilance in place to stop off track walking transmitting the disease further. You can keep up to date with track closures here.
Pre-disease, the first part of this track would typically take in the climb to Mt Zion and Zion Hill Track. Alas, this track falls into the closed category. Not to worry, and probably for the best given my time restrictions. Instead, it’s a quick jaunt along the beach, passing Paratahi Island to the west as you snake around Karekare Point, then following the Hillary Trail to Tunnel Point. The eponymous tunnel in the rock opens into a clearing banked by pohutukawa and a shelter. There’s some tracks through the wetlands here but they don’t lead to anything. From here the track heads back along the beach to Pararaha Valley. It was an hour from the start of the walk to here.
Pararaha Valley and Beyond
Once off the beach, the track follows the Pararaha Stream and wetland. The track is well maintained and graded, featuring boardwalks, bridges and a lot of steps once you begin the climb to Mt Gillies. The valley makes a nice change from the beach, with cooler areas fringed by nikau, cabbage trees and mahoe. There’s water available at the campsite here.
Kanuka begins to take over as you climb out of the valley, interspersed with flax in the open. The unmistakable yellow flowers of gorse also show out on the windswept top. The climb is steep but mercifully short and rewarded with viewpoints across to the Tasman Sea to the west. Just don’t take too much notice of the long expanse of beach to traverse for the way back…
Soon enough after reaching Mt Gillies the track begins the slow descent to Whatipu, steepening as it continues. Once you reach the bottom there is a track to some caves, which were previously used for shelter, and cryptically, a ballroom. However, given recent flooding in the area I had to give this a miss.
A footbridge over the Whatipu Stream takes you to the road end. The walk has taken 2.5 hours to this point.
Whatipu and back home
From Whatipu there greats views to Paratutae Island and the Manukau Harbour Entrance to South Head. Intriguingly there was a film set in operation right on the beach. I understand it is for the film The Convert, starring Australian Guy Pearce. Quite why you would build a settlement on the beach at high tide mark is a bit beyond me, but it did look authentic enough. No filming going on when I walked past though. I took a wide berth around the faux village and pressed on to Te Toka Tapu a Kupe (Ninepin Rock). It is said that it is here that the great explorer Kupe chanted a karakia and threw his marowhara (traditional clothing) into the sea. This caused the Tasman Sea to become rough and confuse his pursuers.
There are innumerable options here for route finding to return. Not wanting to stall for time, I decided not to follow the breaking waves directly. Instead made my way out of the dune maze and skirting the edge of wetlands below the cliffs, stayed close to the toe of the foredunes, avoiding soft sand where possible.
It’s a bit of a long slog to be honest, with little variation until the shallow crossing where Parataha Stream meets the sea. The beach already trodden is rejoined close to Paratahi Island. Following my half an hour stop at Whatipu, this was 9km covered in 1.5 hours, in the spring heat. On a hot summer day there would be little respite so take plenty of water. In stormy weather rolling in off the Tasman, this walk along the beach would turn into something else entirely.
All in all, a successful first foray into the Waitakere Ranges – it was well worth it. And with time to spare.
