The Waitakeres lie to the west of Auckland city and some 14,600 hectares in this area have been set aside as a reserve. When the Pakeha arrived these hills were covered in kauri forest, but 100 years of logging have removed almost all of the big trees and left us with such anomalies as a 'Lone Kauri Road' without a single large kauri. Much of the bush is secondary growth through which kauri are re-emerging with what seems almost painful slowness. There are still a few good kauri and perhaps the best of these can be seen from the Panorama Heights, which is reached off the Scenic Drive via Titirangi and Waiatarua. Look for the 'Large Kauri' signpost, which is off to the right four kilometres past Waiatarua when coming from Auckland. It is not far past the Parkinson Lookout which also has some good native trees.

Information for the various walks in the area can be obtained from the park information centre at Arataki, also on the Scenic Drive, five kilometres past Titirangi and 24 kilometres from downtown Auckland. They provide a wealth of information on the various aspects of the Waitakere region, particularly on the bush.

A good view over the area, which will enable you to see the amount of logging that has been carried out, can be obtained from the top of Mt Donald McLean, reached by driving up a short, steep side-road from the Huia-Whatipu road. As might be expected, the majority of the birds in this area are exotics such as blackbirds, rosellas and even very occasionally kookaburras, but there are a few native white-eyes, tui, warblers and the rare kaka.

Considerable pressure is put on these birds by stoats and rats, and also by the less-than charming custom of Aucklanders dumping their unwanted cats here on the somewhat specious theory that this is the kindest thing to do. Not so! Used to being mollycoddled, cats go through a period of abject misery before about 90 per cent of them finally succumb to starvation. Those that don't, in a remarkable display of atavism, become some of the most efficient predators of the bush. Lean, mean and decidedly nasty. Anything further from Tiddles would be hard to imagine.

Huia is the interesting result of a whopping misidentification of a bird, as this area is several hundred kilometres from the former range of this beautiful species. What was actually seen is now lost in the mists of time, but it most certainly was not a huia.

If you have time continue on to Whatipu, at the end of the road. This is at the north head of the Manukau Harbour and is a pleasant enough drive except at weekends in summer when the traffic becomes a little tiresome. Among the birds to be seen at the large sandy area at the end of the road are white-faced herons, South Island pied oystercatchers, banded and New Zealand dotterels, wrybills, pied stilts and both Caspian and white-fronted terns. In the extensive scrub country backing on to the Heads is a fairly large flock or muster of feral peafowl, an unusual find in this part of the country.

Before returning to Auckland take a detour to Piha. From here, if you are particularly energetic, you can walk along the seafront the 20 or so kilometres to Muriwai, but this route is difficult and, depending on tides, at times dangerous. Take care to check the weather and tides before starting off as the sea around here can sometimes get very rough indeed. You will certainly see gulls and perhaps gannets and there is now a colony of fur seals which haul out on the rocks here in the non-breeding season.