Hiking Mt. Manaia

Our first stop on our trip to New Zealand was the beautiful town of Whangarei. Whangarei is a city in the Northland region of the North Island. We decided to stay in Whangarei because of its proximity to the most of the activities that we wanted to do. The first one being hiking to the top of Mt. Manaia.

Mount Manaia

The mount is located around 30 km from Whangarei on the Whangarei Heads peninsula. There is a large free parking just at the start of the track and this is the view and the climb that awaits you.

The track take you under nīkau palms, kauri stands, northern rātā hanging from pōhutukawa among a cluster of jagged bush-covered peaks.

The track surface is a mix of wide gravel path and wooden steps... A lot of wooden steps. The total altitude change is around 324 m so be prepared for that. The track is well indicated and safe however, keep an eye on cliff and fall hazard and please keep children supervised.

And after all the walking and stair climbing you are rewarded with this amazing view.

In total, it took us around 3 hours with a decent amount of stops for photos and water of course.