{"id":247429,"date":"2026-01-23T07:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/247429\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T07:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:03:10","slug":"mt-manaia-among-northlands-green-spaces-damaged-in-wild-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/247429\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt Manaia among Northland\u2019s green spaces damaged in wild weather"},"content":{"rendered":"

Witten-Hannah said the damage was worse than what had occurred during Cyclone Gabrielle <\/a>in 2023. <\/p>\n

The closure of the track would have an impact on not just tourists travelling to the area, but residents who scale the spot regularly, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the highlight things to do in Whang\u0101rei.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a special place … I\u2019m a bit bereft, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witten-Hannah usually ventured up every Sunday morning, but for now, that routine would have to stop. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe bridge is basically smashed, it\u2019s just debris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witten-Hannah said the track itself had held up well from what he could see. <\/p>\n

No amount of maintenance could have prevented what happened, he said.<\/p>\n

On Friday, DoC operations manager Rob Akuhata said staff visited the mountain on Thursday to install safety signage and close the track.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a large slip, however, it is too early to confirm the full extent of the damage or what the next steps or timeframes will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe track at Mt Manaia has been damaged in a large slip, damaging a connecting bridge as well. Photo \/ Kubi Witten-Hannah<\/p>\n

\u201cOur teams will be looking to do assessments on the most popular tracks in the coming weeks to understand the damage.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Cape Brett hut and track, and Whangamumu Track were also closed on January 19 after storm damage. <\/p>\n

Nine trampers staying at Cape Brett hut were airlifted out on Monday <\/a>after rough sea conditions and slips cut off access to the area.<\/p>\n

The Flagstaff Hill Track in Russell was also closed because of the possibility of a large tree falling on to the track. <\/p>\n

Other closures included the Whang\u0101ruru North Head walking tracks, Puriri Bay campsite, and the Waikahoa Bay Campsite. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, anyone using the Te Whara Track at Bream Head scenic reserve was encouraged to proceed with caution, with damage being assessed this week.<\/p>\n

The impact comes during the region\u2019s busiest tourism period. <\/p>\n

\"AA slip has damaged a large section of Mt Manaia’s walking track, which could be seen from Kubi Witten-Hannah’s property on Thursday morning. Photo \/ Kubi Witten-Hannah<\/p>\n

DoC data between December 2024 and February 2025 showed more than 10,367 bed nights were booked at Whang\u0101ruru North Head (Puriri Bay) campsite.<\/p>\n

Another popular place that had been previously damaged in severe weather managed to remain unscathed. <\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei\u2019s Quarry Gardens were closed for a period in 2023 following several slips during Cyclone Gabrielle<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"WhangareiWhangarei Quarry Gardens’ manager Thomas Nance with the new bridge to connect visitors, after the previous bridge was flattened in a slip. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Much of the west side of the garden had been obliterated, destroying years of hard work by dedicated volunteers.<\/p>\n

The remains of the large slip<\/a>, which flattened newly-built gazebos and the arid garden, can still be seen as a scar on the hillside from State Highway 1 in Kensington.<\/p>\n

Garden manager Thomas Nance was thankful there was no damage this time around. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was some anxiety for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nance had started in June 2023, taking over from the former manager. He spent the next year supporting the garden in its recovery.<\/p>\n

A DoC spokesperson said people should check the department\u2019s website for up-to-date alerts on tracks, huts and campsites, as their status could change.<\/p>\n

People should stay alert when using such facilities, due to the possibility of landslides, washouts or downed trees on tracks. <\/p>\n

Damage should be reported to DoC via 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whang\u0101rei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Witten-Hannah said the damage was worse than what had occurred during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. The closure of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,3471,1558,17153,2518,144355,78,3242,101,126281,3025,10048,111,43,139,24926,69,10903,64572,26699,9202,4770,4998,15391],"class_list":{"0":"post-247429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-among","10":"tag-been","11":"tag-damaged","12":"tag-green","13":"tag-impassable","14":"tag-in","15":"tag-large","16":"tag-left","17":"tag-manaia","18":"tag-most","19":"tag-mt","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-northlands","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-popular","26":"tag-slip","27":"tag-spaces","28":"tag-tracks","29":"tag-walking","30":"tag-weather","31":"tag-wild"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}