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We are going to Takatu Head (between Piha and Karekare on west coast of Waitakere Ranges) for a loop hike to Karekare Beach and back, including visit to Mercer Bay at low tide. Highlights include two dramatic wild west coast beaches, a big sea cave and long tunnel at Mercer Bay, great coastal views from clifftops, and a variety of native forest.

Duration: 3½ to 6 hours hike, including stops.
Difficulty: 4 on our 1-5 scale for whole route; 3 if not including visit to Mercer Bay. The unofficial side-track down to Mercer Bay is unmarked and very steep, although fairly well formed. Hands are required in many places. Knotted ropes installed on the three steepest sections are helpful but not essential. Some care and agility is needed, especially going downhill. Uphill will require some fitness. Rest of route is on relatively good quality walking and tramping tracks with moderate amount of climbing (elevation range about 270m).

Weather Update (9pm Fri): Metservice forecast for Waitakere (http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland/waitakere) on Saturday: "Few showers, possibly heavy afternoon. Southerly. (sun+shower symbol)". 3 Day Rain forecast (http://www.metservice.com/national/maps-rain-radar/rain-radar-forecasts/rain-forecast-3-day) and Time and Date forecast (http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/new-zealand/auckland/hourly) currently suggest no significant rain during hike period. This hike is going ahead.

Meeting Places:

Carpooling:

  • Carpooling will be arranged for everyone meeting at New World after we arrive there (transport permitting - you can read more details about carpooling here (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/pages/Transport_and_Carpooling)).
  • Best if most people meet at New World first. The option to drive straight to Log Race Road is only intended if New World is genuinely out of the way (eg, if driving from west).
  • Each carpool passenger from New World is expected to give $10 to driver.

Time Guideline:

  • 09:15 - Good time to arrive at New World, meet & greet
  • 09:30 - Latest time to arrive at New World, arrange carpooling
  • 09:35 - Leave New World
  • 10:15 - Arrive Log Race Road if driving straight there
  • 10:30 - All at Log Race Road carpark, introductions
  • 10:45 - Start hike
  • 16:45 - Approx end hike
  • 18:00 - Approx return to Auckland

Maps:

Hike Description:
The exact route and direction is not totally decided yet, but basic plan is to:

  • Walk from Log Race Road to Karekare Beach via west side of Mercer Bay Loop Walkway and Comans Track, exploring sidetracks to Te Ahua Point and Farley point on the way;
  • Loop back via Ahu Ahu Track and east side of Mercer Bay Loop Walkway, exploring Mercer Bay via very steep sidetrack on the way back.

Hike Route Directions:

  • See hike route map (http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/2/c/0/highres_163473472.jpeg) for junction numbers (note, some junctions are visited more than once on this route):
    (P) At Log Race Road carpark, west side of Mercer Bay Loop Walk via clifftops starts near the lighthouse.
    (1) Turn right on sidetrack to Te Ahua Point, explore, return, and continue loop.
    (2) Continue straight-right on unnamed track to Ahu Ahu Track.
    (3) Look at unmarked track to Mercer Bay to see where we will go down on way back, but continue straight on main track to Ahu Ahu.
    (4) Turn right on Ahu Ahu track.
    (5) Turn right up narrower Comans Track, along clifftops.
    (6) Turn right on unmarked sidetrack to Farley Point viewpoints, return, and continue down Comans Track.
    (7) Turn right down track over sand dunes to Karekare beach.
    (8) Lunch and explore at Karekare, the go back up same track.
    (7) Continue straight past Comans Track on left a short distance, then turn left on Ahu Ahu Track.
    (5) Continue straight back up Ahu Ahu Track past Comans junction on left.
    (4) Turn left back on unnamed track to Log Race Road.
    (3) Turn turn left down steep unmarked track to Mercer Bay.
    (9) Explore Mercer Bay beach and sea caves and tunnels, then back up steep track.
    (3) Turn left back on track to Log Race Race.
    (2) Turn right up east side of Mercer Bay Loop back to Log Race Road carpark.

Alternative Hike Route Options:

  • It is not expected that we will be able to walk from Karekare to Mercer Bay via coastal rocks around Farley Point, but we'll have a look when we explore Karekare and if this looks safe and easy enough we could go straight from (8) to (9).
  • If our exploration of Karakare takes us to the road, we could approach Ahu Ahu Track at (7) from the opposite direction via Watchmans Road.

Bring:

  • lunch and drink
  • clothing suitable for spring
  • footwear suitable for tramping tracks.
  • sun and rain protection
  • torch for exploring sea caves and long tunnel
  • plastic bags for muddy boots
  • first-aid items
  • money ($10 if carpool passenger)

Notes:
(1) We have hiked the main loops of this route 3 times before (2 Jan 2011 (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/events/15834440/), 18 Oct 2009 (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/events/11556691/), and 14 Sep 2008 (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/events/8649837/). This will be the first time we start from Log Race Road, and the first time we plan include the steep track down to Mercer Bay.
(2) 9:30am is the latest time to arrive at New World and 10:30am is the latest time to arrive at Log Race Road if driving straight there. We plan to leave New World and start hike exactly on time and are unlikely to wait for late people to arrive. Arriving early is good :-)
(3) We aim to hike as a group with stops for group to catch up at all track junctions, but there's no guarantee this will happen so prepare for this hike as best you can (study map, description, etc).
(4) We'll walk at a moderate pace that is comfortable for most people in the group, with stops at places of interest along the way.
(5) We'll have an extended lunch stop at Karekare Beach, and we'll probably spend about an hour down at Mercer Bay.
(6) Low tide is about 3:20pm and is lower than average (0.6m).
(7) The main plan will revolve around visiting Mercer Bay around low tide. This most difficult part of the hike can be optional, but it may take over 2 hours to go down, explore Mercer Bay, and go back up again, so there could be a long wait for group to return unless transport is arranged in advance to leave early.

RSVP:

  • If you are interested to attend it will help if you: read all these details carefully; RSVP online soon, and update your RSVP later if you decide not to attend or anything you specified is no longer accurate.
  • There are several RSVP questions about certainty of attending, transport, meeting places, and after hike options. Answering these will help with planning, thanks :-)

Are you interested to attend? :-)

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