This stop looks out from the northern edge of the Manukau Harbour, the vast, shallow inlet that almost cuts Auckland in two, looking across the water to Māngere and its volcanic cone. Auckland is built on a field of some fifty small volcanoes, and you can see several of them from here: Māngere Mountain across the harbour, the terraced slopes of One Tree Hill to the north-east, and others dotted around the suburbs. Many were fortified pā sites in pre-European times, and their terraces and food storage pits are still visible on the grass.
This is a practical place to start and finish rides to the west, because it puts you close to State Highway 20 and the long Waterview tunnel, which link the southern and western parts of the city without passing through the centre. The airport is just across the harbour, and the area is a mix of residential suburbs, light industry and parkland along the shore.
The Manukau shoreline here is low and muddy, with mangroves, shell banks and wading birds. Across the bridge at Māngere, Ambury Regional Park is a working farm and bird reserve on the old lava flows, where godwits and other migratory birds gather in the summer months after flying thousands of kilometres from the Arctic. It is a strangely peaceful place for somewhere so close to a busy airport.
The ride west from here leads to the Waitākere Ranges, a block of forested hills on the city's western edge, and beyond them to the black-sand surf beaches of Piha, Karekare and Muriwai. The roads in the ranges are narrow, steep and winding, with tight bends, wet patches under the trees and plenty of cyclists and tourists, so they demand concentration. There is plenty of fuel and food in the surrounding suburbs, so you can top up before heading out. At the end of the day, coming back across the harbour at sunset, with the volcanoes silhouetted against the sky, is a good way to finish.