Lake Pupuke - Pupukemoana

The PumpHouse Theatre

I arrived early on Sunday at the PumpHouse theatre car park opposite Lake Pupuke, inTakapuna. It was damp and dreary and I started to wonder if I was the only Nordic Walker daft enough to brave the elements, however after a short wait, North Shore Nordic Walkers began to arrive.
The Lake was grey and looked most uninviting but didn’t seem to deter the black swans that glided through the water, curious to see us arriving and starting out with our poles.

View Of The Lake From The Car Park

It's a freshwater lake, shaped like a heart and is actually two linked volcanic craters that are situated between Takapuna and Milford on the North Shore. Sadly, it’s not possible to walk completely around the lake as houses have been built right up to the water in some places; most of the walk  has to be navigated using road and park walkways.

Entrance To Henderson Park

Maori legend has it that the lake was formed after a Tupua couple (spirit or demon), descendants of the Firegods, were disrespectable to Mahuika the firegodess, so she had their home destroyed by Mataoho,the god of earthquakes.  Lake Pupuke was the result of Mahuika’s wrath and Rangitoto was apparently raised from the sea for their exile.

Black Swans On The Lake

The full Maori name for the lake is Pupukemoana, which means “overflowing lake”.  This area is of great significance for Maori history.  There are documented ancient lava caves (Tapua; sacred) on the edge of the lake where Maori would bring sacred bones to rest, these were discovered by early European settlers. There is also evidence that there was a Papakaiinga (settlement) near the lake.

In 1894 a pump house was built by the lake which pumped fresh water to the local area. It was replaced in 1906 and as demand increased the water level of the lake fell and the quality quickly deteriorated. Use of the lake for freshwater stopped in 1944 and supplies were sourced from the Waitakere Ranges. The second pump house became a protected building in 1983 and is now used as a theatre.

Nordic Walking Downhill To The Lake

Our group walked up the hill, turned left out of the car park into Manurere Avenue, then taking another left we continued along Killarney Street and onto Hurstmere Road.

We poled along until we came to the entrance for Henderson Park situated between the houses on the left  and followed the path along the lake edge.  It’s a beautiful walk, slightly soggy underfoot but gorgeous views of the lake and waterfowl.  Keeping the lake to our left we continued with our walk to Sylvan Park, where we came across a few teams of rowers practising.  This area is very popular for water sports and with school kids that take part in the Waterwise programme.  A little further along along we stopped at the Milford Waterwise building to allow some of our walkers to catch up.

Early Morning Boat Races On The Lake

Turning right we passed through Milford school, it looked like there was a swimming coach giving lessons at the school pool it was pretty chilly I must say I didn’t envy them at all! We turned left outside the school entrance and walked along Shakespeare Road to North Shore Hospital.  I hadn’t been to the hospital for a while and I was surprised to see that they had finished the new car park there.

Kids Get The Opportunity To Sail Optimist During Waterwise Classes

We continued along turning into Taharoto Road then took a left  turn at the end into Rangitira Ave and right into Pupuke Road.  At the top of Pupuke Road we turned left back into Killarney Street then back into the car park by the Pumphouse.  The car park was now very busy, a few more walkers had arrived and a diving group with all their paraphernalia spilled over the grassy bank alongside the lake.

New landscaped Garden At North Shore Hospital

We arrived in the nick of time at the Rendez-Vouse cafe next to the theatre as it began to rain. This is a small cafe, warm, with pleasant surroundings overlooking the lake - I bet it looks awesome in summer.  I had lemon and ginger tea!

Information and sources:

http://www.northshorecity.govt.nz/Services/Environment/StreamsHarbourLake/Documents/lake-pupuke/lake-pupuke-report.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pupuke

http://www.arc.govt.nz/environment/volcanoes-of-auckland/lake-pupuke.cfm