In the new year, a group of us did the newly re-opened Cascade Kauri Track. If you're planning to do the track, get there early if a weekend, as it's a busy car park, even when the extra side bit is open. Gravel car park and last km in.

The Kauri here are as spectacularly large as they've always been, bar some very sadly dead ones and the general scale of the trees in this area of the Waitakere Ranges is impressively large.

The track is all graveled, boardwalked, and bridged. If doing the loop track, head towards the dam. You can also park at Long Rd, and walk up the steep hill and into an open paddock loop (you can see both east & west coast waters) and then return to Long Rd Track and head up the hill and towards the junction for dam loop. We actually did 19.6km approximately yesterday, as did all the extra bits. If parking at the Falls Rd carpark, then the loop is about 12km apparently.