Access

From S.H.12 south of Aranga, turn into unsealed Aranga Coast Road and follow it 6km to the beach. The start of the track is signposted on the right by a small parking bay.

Track

For 20 minutes the narrow track passes through dense thickets of flax, before entering coastal forest. It climbs steadily for 30 minutes and is marked with orange triangles. It then follows a fenceline for 10 minutes before veering left up a vehicle track for 10 minutes to the trig at the summit.

Flora

Maunganui Bluff rises to nearly 500 metres above sea level and protrudes from a tumultuous sea in sheer cliffs. Hardy flax clings in clefts, but little other vegetation can gain hold. On the lee side of the bluff is a verdant coastal forest of nikau, puriri, taraire and kohekohe.

Large puriri grow on the high cliff frontage. Hebe speciosa still grows in its natural environment on the slopes and snow grass, usually confined to the South Island, flourishes on the northern coastline.

Polynesian History

Maori say Maunganui Bluff looks towards Kaipara and used it as a vantage point. Ngati Whatua, whose southern boundary once lay in the vicinity of the bluff, used smoke signals from the highest point as an early warning system to communicate to more southerly tribes the danger of impeding attack.

Around the beginning of the 1800s, when Ngapuhi passed down the coast, chiefs Murupaenga and Taoho, who lived near present-day Baylys Beach, were warned of Hongi Hika’s approaching war party. They were able to defeat them by ambush.