Why this ride
The stops in between: Auckland / New Zealand, near Parakai, Waiuku and Titirangi. The climbs: near Pukekohe East and near Papakura.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Northland Bay of Islands Weekend + Waitākere Ranges and Piha
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1165 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 22 h 36
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Pakuranga
Planning note
Northland Bay of Islands Weekend is where the day begins. Next is Auckland / New Zealand return.
2. Auckland / New Zealand return
North of Auckland the coast road thins out and the land becomes greener and wetter, with dairy farms, tidal creeks and little harbours cut deep into the hills. The ride is the start of a long weekend towards the Bay of Islands.
Read the complete Auckland / New Zealand return write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Auckland / New Zealand return comes up 53 km in. Next is Food stop near Parakai.
3. Food stop near Parakai
Planning note
A break here. Next is Northland Bay of Islands Weekend photo pull-off.
4. Waiuku
Waiuku sits at the head of a long, muddy arm of the Manukau Harbour, south-west of Auckland, and for centuries it was a crossroads. Māori travellers hauled canoes across the short portage between the Manukau and the Waikato River here, linking the harbours of the north with the great river system of the interior, and early European traders used the same route. Today it is a quiet country town serving farms in the surrounding hills, with a main street of shops and cafés and an easy, unhurried rhythm.
Read the complete Photo stop near Waiuku write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Northland Bay of Islands Weekend photo pull-off, early in the day. Next is Northland Bay of Islands Weekend checkpoint 8.
5. Near Titirangi
Titirangi calls itself the gateway to the Waitākere Ranges, and it fits the role: a bohemian village of artists, writers and bush-clad houses, built on steep slopes above the Manukau Harbour, where the suburbs of Auckland end and the native forest begins. The finish is a few kilometres from the village, on the harbour side towards Lynfield and Blockhouse Bay, and it serves as a calm finish for long rides back from Northland.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Titirangi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Northland Bay of Islands Weekend checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is High point near Pukekohe East.
6. High point near Pukekohe East
The soil around Pukekohe is a deep chocolate red, the gift of old volcanoes, and it grows a startling share of New Zealand's vegetables. Market gardens, many started by Chinese and Indian immigrants in the twentieth century, cover the slopes with neat rows of onions, potatoes and greens, and the area remains one of the most productive horticultural districts in the country. Pukekohe East is a rural community on the low hills to the east of the town, with long views over the fields.
Read the complete High point near Pukekohe East write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
High point near Pukekohe East is the summit of this stretch. Next is Scenic stretch near Papakura.
7. Scenic stretch near Papakura
Papakura grew up on the Great South Road, built by British troops in the early 1860s to move soldiers and supplies south for the invasion of the Waikato, a key episode of the New Zealand Wars. Redoubts and military settlements dotted the route, and Papakura was one of them. Today it is a busy town on the southern edge of Auckland, with a main street, a railway station and expanding suburbs.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Papakura write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
317 km in you reach Scenic stretch near Papakura. Next is Back to Northland Bay.
8. Back to Northland Bay
Waiheke, a short ferry ride east of Auckland, is a hilly island of roughly nine thousand residents, with bays of white sand, wooded gullies and, over the last few decades, a collection of vineyards that makes it the country's most famous wine island.
Read the complete Northland Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Northland Bay. That is the ride. Next is Waitākere Ranges and Piha.
9. Murrays Bay
Murrays Bay is one of the East Coast Bays on Auckland's North Shore, a sheltered crescent of sand between rocky headlands, with a wharf, a sailing club and big pōhutukawa trees leaning over the beach. In December these trees burst into crimson flower, which is why New Zealanders call the pōhutukawa their Christmas tree. Out across the Hauraki Gulf, the symmetrical cone of Rangitoto Island, Auckland's youngest volcano, sits on the horizon, and on a calm morning the water is glassy and pale.
10. Near Wellsford, on the way back
West of Wellsford, the land falls away towards the Kaipara Harbour, the largest harbour in New Zealand, a vast, shallow, branching body of water that reaches deep into the farmland of Northland. Its eastern arms creep up into quiet valleys, and this stop is near one of them, a place to pause on the way back south, stretch out in the grass and cool off in the water when the tide is in.
Read the complete Near Wellsford, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Auckland / New Zealand return comes up 476 km in. Next is Waitākere Ranges and Piha food stop.
11. Rosebank
Rosebank is not where anyone goes for the view. It is a light industrial peninsula on the western side of Auckland, between the suburb of Avondale and the Whau River, a place of factories, warehouses, workshops and car dealers, with a single long road running down the middle. But it has a surprising history, and it is a practical, unpretentious place to start a ride into the Waitākere Ranges.
Read the complete Rosebank write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Photo stop near Waiuku.
12. Photo stop near Waiuku
Waiuku sits at the head of a long, muddy arm of the Manukau Harbour, south-west of Auckland, and for centuries it was a crossroads. Māori travellers hauled canoes across the short portage between the Manukau and the Waikato River here, linking the harbours of the north with the great river system of the interior, and early European traders used the same route. Today it is a quiet country town serving farms in the surrounding hills, with a main street of shops and cafés and an easy, unhurried rhythm.
Read the complete Photo stop near Waiuku write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Waiuku, late in the day. Next is Waitākere Ranges and Piha checkpoint 8.
13. Near Mangere
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.
Read the complete Near Mangere write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waitākere Ranges and Piha checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is High point near Papakura.
14. High point near Papakura
East of Papakura, the land climbs into the Hunua Ranges, the largest stretch of native forest close to Auckland and the source of much of the city's drinking water. Reservoirs fill the valleys behind tall dams, and the forest around them, of tawa, kauri, rimu and tree ferns, is home to birds such as the kōkako, whose haunting song was once almost silenced and is now recovering thanks to pest control. The ranges are a regional park, laced with walking tracks.
Read the complete High point near Papakura write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The high point of this section. Next is Scenic stretch near Pakuranga.
15. Scenic stretch near Pakuranga
Planning note
740 km in you reach Scenic stretch near Pakuranga. Next is Back to Waitākere Ranges.
16. Back to Northland Bay of Islands Weekend
The island is a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves, pohutukawa-fringed bays and rolling pasture, with winding roads and sudden views of the blue gulf. About nine thousand people live here, many of them commuters, artists and wine makers, and in summer the island fills with visitors drawn by its beaches, restaurants and cellar doors. Pakuranga, on the Auckland side, is the closest large suburb across the water.
Read the complete Northland Bay of Islands Weekend write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Waitākere Ranges closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Pakuranga to Auckland / New Zealand return
Fuel stop near Pakuranga → Auckland / New Zealand return is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Auckland / New Zealand return to Food stop near Parakai
Auckland / New Zealand return → Food stop near Parakai is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Parakai to Waiuku
Food stop near Parakai → Waiuku is 125 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
High point near Pukekohe East to Scenic stretch near Papakura
High point near Pukekohe East → Scenic stretch near Papakura is 12 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Papakura to Back to Northland Bay
Scenic stretch near Papakura → Back to Northland Bay is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Northland Bay to Murrays Bay
Back to Northland Bay → Murrays Bay is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Waiuku to Near Mangere
Photo stop near Waiuku → Near Mangere is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Papakura to Scenic stretch near Pakuranga
High point near Papakura → Scenic stretch near Pakuranga is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Pakuranga to Back to Northland Bay of Islands Weekend
Scenic stretch near Pakuranga → Back to Northland Bay of Islands Weekend is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Northland Bay of Islands Weekend · short arc · 403 km
- East Cape Long Adventure · 395 km
- Hobbiton Waikato Easy Ride · 231 km
- Northland Bay of Islands Weekend · part 2 · 232 km