Just at the north end of Orewa lies the Alice Eaves Scenic Reserve. It’s a remnant of the forests that used to be all over this area. Due to kauri dieback disease (and steep terrain), you are supposed to stay on the trails. Most of the way that means you get this lovely boardwalk, so it’s a win-win situation.

We walked for under an hour, never more than a baseball throw from civilization, but it felt like being in a completely different world. The parks, especially the wilder ones, are a very cool feature of Auckland.

They promised me a lookout…

… but obviously the trees have grown up since the original planning meetings. Or maybe not: somehow I can imagine the person with exactly this sense of humour ending up in the parks department.

I still feel fundamentally unable to take a decent selfie.