Mangere Bridge and Mangere Mountain

I promised to head back out and do a run incorporating Mangere Mountain, and here it is! Mangere Bridge is a lovely little community filled, it seems, with friendly people who love to stop and chat while you're having a breather on the way.





Ambury Park to Mangere Mountain and back
I parked in the main carpark of Ambury Regional Park, and followed the blue-tipped posts across the sheep paddocks. Then you have to turn into a residential area for a wee bit, then head into the Mangere Pony Club. After stopping to ask directions and chat to a friendly rider, she pointed me in the right direction - across a field with big horses and electric fences! But the electric fences are only the one-strip kind (they look like just a single piece of ribbon), which I could crawl under easily. And the horses left me alone. All good!

You come out onto Wallace Rd, and almost immediately turn into Pikitea Rd, at the end of which is access to Mangere Mountain. There at last!

I headed up and took pictures, stopping to talk to various people on the way. I went round twice, on different tracks. The view was amazing and the westerly wind just as strong as the day we were out here last.

Next was a bit of a road run through Mangere Bridge village (I love any town village that has hanging baskets and yubitsia trees) and back to the waterfront. Here it's like a seaside village f yesteryear - no big flash ugly houses and some that still look like baches.

I couldn't resist stopping to talk to a man on a bicycle who had his dog in a little buggy on the back. He explained he has arthritis and can't walk far. So he bikes across the pedestrian bridge from Mangere Bridge to Onehunga (where there is an off-leash dog area) and lets his dog run around over there. Sweet!







Maps
Click on the image to view the mapometer map.






Evaluation

• Distance: 8 or so kilometers
  
• Terrain: Paddocks in the park are quite bumpy and watch out for sheep poo. Mangere Mountain is, like, steep :)
  
• Shade: Not much shade on this run except for a few trees in the town centre and along the waterfront
  
• Track type and condition: In Ambury Park there are no tracks really, so you've got to find your own way. From Mangere Mountain it's easy to follow the road and reserve along the waterfront
  
• Mud: None, although in winter the fields would get muddy
  
• Views: 360 degrees up Mangere Mountain. Spectacular
  
• Novelty: Novel for me as I don't live here
  
• Remoteness: Not really, although in Ambury Park it was just me for a lot of the time
  
• Toilets: Yes – at Ambury Park, Mangere Mountain and a few places along the waterfront. Water fountain at Ambury Park too!
  
• Crowd factor: You don't need to worry as there's plenty of space here! I enjoyed stopping to talk to people
  
• Watch out for: Sunburn
• Extra for experts: Plenty more terrain to run - do some extra loops around the mountain or Ambury Park
  

Verdict
Great run; the only downside for those of us who burn easily is that it's a little sunny. Nice people along the way, good views, a cooling breeze, nice town centre, good variety, decent hills for hill work. Buy a house in Mangere Bridge!