Cycle paths in South Auckland make most of the long sea views across the Manukau Harbour. NZ Herald Graphic
Cycle paths in South Auckland make most of the long sea views across the Manukau Harbour. NZ Herald Graphic
On ya bike: In part four of a five-part series looking at the best cycleways in Auckland, we head to South Auckland.
Cycle paths in South Auckland make the most of the long sea views across the Manukau Harbour.
The Mangere Bridge waterfront provides a lovely spin that can link up with the route from the restored Onehunga foreshore for a scenic off-road ride among parkland dotted with pohutukawa.
It's a narrow,winding concrete path so you have to concentrate. I visited on a weekday and had the track to myself so permitted myself glances at herons pecking for prey and at Hillsborough across the harbour.
I circled back through quiet streets to the Mangere Bridge shops and cafes, suffering a head sting on the way from a angry "your-fault" bee that landed in my helmet.
A longer ride is possible for those with fatter tyres than those on my roadbike. I went as far as Ambury Regional Park but you can pedal for a further 8km through the park and along the Watercare Coastal Walkway to the Otuataua Stonefields.
Auckland Transport's cycleway maps promote several other South Auckland routes, on peninsulas that jut out into the harbour at Weymouth, Wattle Downs and Conifer Grove.
I opted for Conifer Grove, which proved hard to find and not really suited to bikes: it's got steps! After searching along Keywella Drive in Conifer Grove I found a sign - facing the wrong way - that marked the entrance down a narrow alleyway.
The path leads through a reserve and over a timber bridge among mangroves.
There pleasant harbour views are interrupted by the steps, which necessitate some serious urban route-finding.
The bike goes on the shoulder and I clip-clop up the concrete in my cleated shoes until I reach a lane to a suburban street and follow my nose in the absence of signs to find steps down to the waterfront.
This track leads around towards the roar of the Southern Motorway, then back across the top of Conifer Grove through a quiet corridor and to Keywella Drive.
