April 16, 2021
As the sun started to fall we joined our good friend Hamish as he took his two dogs, Bonnie and Chica, for their regular walk up Maungawhau / Mt. Eden. Maungawhau (mountain of the whau tree) is Auckland’s highest peak at 643 feet above sea level and at times the climb was rather strenuous. Hamish took us ‘off piste’ as we climbed steep slopes and walked along the terraces left over from pre-European times when it was the site of a pa. Along the way we were treated to some spectacular views.
Maungawhau is a dormant volcano that erupted about 28,000 years ago. There is a deep bowl-like crater that is 50 meters deep. The crater is named Te Ipu-a-Mataaho (the bowl of Mataaho). Mataaho was a deity said to live in the crater and to be the guardian of the secrets hidden in the earth.
Mal and Lauren 