How hard is the Mount Manaia track? The Mount Manaia track, 25 minutes from Ruakākā at Whangārei Heads, is a moderately challenging two to two and a half hour return climb of 420 metres, much of it on well built steps through beautiful forest. The summit viewpoint takes in all of Bream Bay, Whangārei Harbour and the offshore islands. The rock pinnacles themselves are wāhi tapu, sacred to Māori, and must not be climbed.
The climb
The track leaves the car park on Whangārei Heads Road and gets straight to business, climbing through regenerating forest loud with tūī and the wingbeats of kererū. The Department of Conservation has built much of the route as a staircase, well over a thousand steps by the count of every child who has ever climbed it, which makes the going steep but secure. Pace yourself, drink water, and let the forest set the rhythm.
The reward arrives all at once: a viewing platform beneath the summit pinnacles where the world falls away to Bream Bay's full white arc, with Ruakākā and Marsden Point directly below, Whangārei Harbour winding inland, and on clear days the Poor Knights Islands floating on the horizon. It is the definitive photograph of this coast.
The legend and the respect
The jagged crown of Manaia is not scenery to local Māori; it is ancestry. In the best known tradition, the pinnacles are the chief Manaia, his wife, his children and a pursuer, frozen in stone by a curse, and the summit rocks are wāhi tapu, a sacred place. Visitors are asked to stay on the track and viewing platform and not to climb on the pinnacles themselves, a request that costs nothing to honour.
Go early in summer for cool climbing and a quiet platform, carry water and decent shoes, and allow unhurried time at the top; this is not a view to glance at. Combine the climb with the Whangārei Heads scenic drive and a swim at Ocean Beach for one of the great days out from Ruakākā.
