Totara Park / Botanical Gardens (extended lunch break)

Graded 1 on our 1-5 difficulty rating - there are a couple of uphill stair sections but otherwise this is an easy walk on mostly gravel paths. We will spend part of the day walking through native and regenerating bush before heading over to the Botanic Gardens.

Here's the plan:

Before 11am - Meet at the main carpark for Totara Park located at the end of Wairere Road, Manurewa.

11am - Walk the Puhinui Stream Forest track.

12.30pm - Lunch break. We will stop near the Visitor Centre in the Botanic Gardens and you can either eat your own homemade lunch, buy coffee/ice-cream from their external kiosk or buy some hot food from the cafe. Everyone can decide for themselves whether they want to just sit around and chat for the hour, or use part of the time to explore the nearby gardens.

1.30pm - Continue hiking around the Botanic Gardens and return to our starting point via a different section of the Puhinui Stream track.

2.30pm - Anticipated finish time

Bring - Normal hiking gear - the tracks are fairly well-maintained so you can wear running shoes with good grip instead of hiking boots. Hat, rain jacket and warm layers to wear or keep in your pack, plus drink bottle.

Food - Bring your own lunch if you like or money to buy food.

Donation - Due to increased Meetup subscription costs we ask all members to contribute $1 or $2 for this hike. You can either bring a gold coin on the day or make the donation direct to our dedicated bank account:
Helen Kerslake-Forbes 06-0998-0909890-03

Any donation money remaining after our 6 monthly subscription is paid will go towards safety gear for the group.

Carpooling - Please comment when you rsvp whether you need a lift / can offer lifts, which part of Auckland and your mobile number. It’s up to you to arrange this among yourselves. Please bring $10 cash for your drivers or make arrangements to pay your driver by bank transfer.

No guests. If you have friends who would like to come get them to join Auckland Outdoors and RSVP.

If your situation changes and you can no longer attend please update your RSVP immediately. If you drop out after 5pm the night before the event or don't turn up this will be treated as a 'no show'. 3 'no shows' will mean that you cannot join an event for 6 months. This rule is in place to be fair to others in the group.

We look forward to seeing you all :)

Helen, Mike & Aria