What a difference a day or two can make! We were out to dinner, that
referred to in my earlier posting, delighting in the diverse and spicy menu
options at Manukau’s Sanjeet’s Indian Restaurant when we received confirmation
from the real estate agent that the latest fickle buyer had signed the last
round of negotiated terms. Most of the problems encountered in the process,
once the offers started to flow, were the fact that while we might be in
Kiwi-land, selling a house in Kiwi-land, the buyers carry their own commercial
culture and the normal expectations of timing and “a final counter is final” simply
do not strike a chord. And as much as one might cry “but this in New Zealand”,
if you want to buy and sell in South Auckland, you have to accept you are
dealing in a multi-cultural environment. However for all that, we have a deal,
one confirmed tonight three days after that delightful dinner out.
That night, after lamenting that Sanjeet’s larger premises were not as
intimate and ornately decorated as their earlier premises frequented in years
gone by, and then called into MacDonald’s for our favourite desserts (a
dreadful habit of ours!), we drove to the shores of the Manukau Harbour, hoping
to catch the sunset. Alas we were too late, but it was still quite lovely and
we lamented too that this area of New Zealand’s largest city is under
appreciated for its natural beauty; alas
the social negatives have overridden the natural positives.
We sat about in the intervening couple of days waiting for confirmation
of the sale, watching the death throes of the Black Caps in Wellington, and
then today picking up on our abandoned expedition to Mount McLaughlan.
After lunch we set off for the Puhinui Reserve, a very well hidden park,
kept for equestrian events for those who either appreciate or participate in
such events. We followed our noses after further research, heading for the
airport from Papatoetoe, then turning off the Puhinui Road onto Prices Road (and
I say this to encourage other non-equestrian folk to find this park) and
driving directly down to this Auckland Council park, 199 hectares of rural
landscape occupying the southern portion of the Puhinui Peninsula.
Maori first settled this area many generations ago as was evident by
archaeological sites on Matukutureia adjacent to Puhinui Reserve. In 1991 the
area, subsequently owned by Missionary William Thomas Fairburn and W
McLaughlin, was purchased by the council.
The whole area is part of the Auckland Volcanic Field and has some very
unique geological features and an explosive volcanic past. Within the reserve
is a cluster of three small volcanic maar craters – flat bottom, roughly
circular volcanic craters of explosive origin, similar to those we visited near
Atherton in Queensland, Australia. It is not known when the three craters
exploded but they were originally encircled by tuff cones that have been partly
breached and eroded over thousands of years. These craters are called the
Puhinui Pond Crater. McLaughlins Mountain (aka Matukutureia) to the east of
Puhinui is a volcanic cone that erupted approximately 25,000 years ago in a
violent and explosive manner.
Arriving at the reserve, you would think you are calling at a working
farm regional park, as many others within the region, but after setting off
along the walkways, the first impression is one of being in a giant sculpture
park. It is fact a massive equestrian centre.
I was curious to learn more about this, but found a paucity of
information. The original proposal suggested that the centre would generate
$109 million in revenue to the Auckland economy annually . This was to justify
input from the public purse to meet the estimated cost of the project of
$19,479 million (these figures were extracted from a publication called “NZ
Sport Horse” dated 2016.)
Interestingly a headline in December 2012 on Stuff.co.nz reported “A proposed $47 million national equestrian facility based in South
Auckland will not be backed by Auckland Council who have said the sector needs
to find its own funding.”
As an
Auckland ratepayer, I was happy to read this!
We wandered
all over the area, this afternoon populated by sheep and cattle, marvelled at
the challenging and torturous jumps, climbed up the tower that is apparently
only for event officials, there being no easy access to the first floor,
however that did not allow for over-sixties with an adventurous nature and a
reluctance to be forbidden anything. From this tower we could see the extent of
the area allocated to equestrian events, leaving only a small area along the
coastline for conservational purposes.
This area
on the shoreline is around 39.5 hectares in size and has the largest area of
salt-marsh meadow and manuka grass scrub on the Manukau Harbour. It is fenced
off from the public; we did heed the notice and left it to the birds and other
creatures that call it home.
On our
return to the car park we took particular note of the development being done to
the north of the reserve. This is apparently a controversial project, part of
the push for more housing in the Auckland area. I have no opinion on this
although I would have to say that those who end up living here will have an
excellent park on their doorstep.
On our way
back home, we made another attempt to reach McLaughlins Mountain, having had
further clues as we had looked across the Puhinui Creek and the growing
industrial area at the mountains foot. This time we were more successful,
although actual access to the mountain is fenced off, probably due to the fact
that the scoria sides could well subside, and we noted rather strange cave-like
holes on the northern side. Better to look rather than explore further, better
safe than sorry.
Back in the
motorhome, enjoying a glass of wine as our modest meatloaf cooked in the oven,
we had word that the contract for sale had gone unconditional. Strangely, after all the to-ing and fro-ing
over the last few weeks, our excitement was rather subdued. But at least we can
now look beyond the immediate weeks ahead, and even more importantly, plan more
positively for our departure in April for the United Kingdom. We have been
rather stuck; now are free to plan ahead.
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