Timing

A classic for sunset.

Access

The start of the track is signposted past the settlement of Whangarei Heads along Whangarei Heads Road. There is a parking area below Mount Manaia Club. The start of the track is signposted a little up the hill and leaves from behind the early settlers memorial.

Track

The track is marked with orange triangles and is uneven and steep. It takes approximately 45 minutes to the signposted Bluff Lookout. This 2-minute detour takes you to an opening in the forest at the top of an exposed rock face. Take extreme care while admiring the view as the wind can gust ferociously.

The final ascent to the summit takes approximately 15 minutes. A wooden staircase leads to a flat rock area below the main pinnacles. There is no access to the trig at the summit.

An alternative route is signposted from the top and drops very steeply, sometimes aided with a steel cable to steady the descent. This takes 45 minutes and arrives at the start of the track.

Geology

Mount Manaia is the eroded skeleton of an andesite cone, erupted 22-16 million years ago. The layers of andesitic breccia are visible on the summit ridge and rocks in the matrix are visibly exposed on the sides of the pinnacles.

The peaks of the Bream Head Range are the eroded stumps of former volcanic cones, erupted around 20 million years ago. The volcanic vents were filled with slowly cooling lava, which were more resistant than the layers of ash, pumice, lava and mud forming the surrounding cone. Weathering agents over the millennia have removed the less resistant layers, leaving the exposed neck, known as volcanic plug. The andesite lava was silica rich.

Flora

Rare plant communities adorn the slopes, with parapara, large leaf milk tree and native angelica being some of the more notable species. The exposed rocky ridge has examples of mountain daisy, native forget-me-knot and sprawling pomaderis.

Much of the plant and birdlife is shared with the Three Kings, Hen and Chickens and Poor Knights Island groups.

Polynesian History

According to one Maori legend there were five brothers – Manaia, Maungaraho, Tokatoka, Motowhitiki and Taungatara, who were all disillusioned with their lives in Hawaiki.

Under cover of darkness they decided to follow the findings of the great explorer Kupe and travel to Aotearoa. At dawn the mighty Atua took away their powers of motion, stranding them in their present resting places.

Manaia, Maungaraho, Tokatoka, and Motowhitiki all lie in a straight line to Ripiro Beach, where Taungatara, the smallest peak stands.

The songs and legends of Ngapuhi and Ngatiwhatua remember this story.

Another Maori legend accounts for the five peaks on the summit ridge relating to Manaia and his family. The largest peak represents Manaia himself, the smaller pinnacles are his children, while the last figure is his unfaithful wife, turning her head away in shame.