Auckland Heritage Festival
Auckland Heritage Festival is returning in 2022 and will be retaining the 2021 theme: Topography, Taonga and Trailblazers.
As part of the festival the GSNZ and Auckland Geology Club will be hosting six guided walks.
All trips will proceed regardless of the weather conditions.
Trips are FREE and all are welcome
Thurs Oct 6 Guided Tour in the Footsteps of Hochstetter
Leader: Bruce Hayward
2pm-4pm
Meet at Armour Bay carpark, Parau at 2pm; carpool to Cornwallis and Huia.
See and hear about the geology and kauri milling activities recorded by Ferdinand von Hochstetter in 1859.
Low tide 2pm
Grade: Easy.
Sat Oct 8 Guided Walk to Rangitoto Volcano Summit
Leader: Bruce Hayward
10am-2.30pm (on island).
Book your own Rangitoto ferry tickets, leaving Auckland 9.15am, Devonport 9.30am and meet at Rangitoto Wharf Information Pavilion at 10am. Return on 2.30pm ferry from Rangitoto Wharf.
Grade: Moderately strenuous walk up the volcano and in the lava caves. Bring lunch and drink and wet weather gear.
Sun Oct 9 Guided walk to Otahuhu/Mt Richmond Volcano
Leader: Hugh Grenfell
2pm-4pm
Meet in Mt Richmond Domain carpark entrance off Great South Rd before Portage Road at 2pm.
Learn about the area’s geology and history and the wider Auckland Volcanic Field.
Grade: Relatively easy walking on paths and grassy slopes.
Sun Oct 9 Guided walk to the coastal geology of South Piha
Leader: Bruce Hayward
3pm-5pm
Meet outside South Piha Surf Club at 3pm, low tide 4.30pm.
We will examine the exposures at Lion rock, The Gap and go through the Blowhole to the new beach to the south.
Grade: Moderately easy, mostly walking on beach.
Tues Oct 11 Guided Geoheritage Walk to Takapuna fossil forest
Leader: Bruce Hayward
2pm-4pm
Meet at Takapuna reef carpark, end of The Promenade at 2pm. Walk among and over rocky foreshore and along rocky path to Thornes Bay and back.
Grade: Medium.
Sat Oct 15 Guided Walk, Swanson and Massey
Leader: Michael Coote
10am-12 noon
Meet at entrance to Woodside Reserve, Woodside Road, Swanson at 10am.
Visit two beautiful but lesser-known west Auckland stream sites. The walk commences at Woodside Reserve, Swanson, with participants travelling by their own means to Lowtherhurst Reserve, Massey. The two streams are notable for unusual pothole formations naturally eroded into the stony streambeds. Reserve features rare remains of a kauri log holding dam built by William Swanson in the 1850s, when native timber extraction was a local industry.
Grade: Solid walking shoes and reasonable fitness recommended.
More details about the Auckland heritage festival can be found here.