Advisory: The Puhinui Stream Walk is not finished. It’s do-able if you don’t mind a bit of street walking and wet boots from fording the stream twice. It’s all legal and much of it is a pleasure, but Manukau City hasn’t quite finished this path.
At the end of Price Road, you’ll see a stile across the fence into the reserve. Head across the reserve to a gate in the extreme NE corner (the row of trees on your left intersects the reserve at that point). Cross the stream. (A bridge is planned to take walkers across, but until this work is complete you have to carefully ford the stream).
Take the wide track upstream on the Puhinui’s true left bank. Leave the stream at Aerovista Place. Turn right out of Aerovista into McLaughlins Rd, then left into Vogler Drive to the junction with Roscommon Rd. Turn right and follow Roscommon Rd until the traffic lights.
Turn left off Roscommon Rd into Wiri Station Rd. Follow this road about 2.5 kms to its junction with Lambie Drive and Druces Rd. Diagonally across the intersection, the Puhinui Stream track opens up again. Follow it through to meet up with Kerrs Rd.
Follow Kerrs Rd east up to Great South Road, turn right down Great South Road for 400ms to where the Puhinui Stream goes underneath. Take the pedestrian underpass to the true right-hand bank of the Puhinui Stream and a good track for 350m. Ford the stream again into Alicante Road, and turn left onto the Orams Road and overbridge over the Southern Motorway.
Note: it’s possible to keep on along the true right bank and scramble through to Totara Park and the Botanic Gardens under the motorway bridge. We’re working on bringing that route up to a good standard, but in the meantime it’s a scramble and dangerous if the stream is running high.
From the Orams Road overpass, a path just ahead on the right leads you straight through to the Puhinui Stream Forest Trail, past the Auckland regional Botanic Gardens. Follow this trail through to Totara Park and Wairere Rd (W,T, P).
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