Chelsea Estate Heritage Park (bottom of Huka Road)

For most of its history, the Chelsea Estate Heritage Park was part of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company’s property and was used for a wide assortment of functions as needed. The area immediately around the refinery was levelled and four freshwater ponds were created along Duck Creek and other streams to provide water to the refinery’s boilers. The park also provided clay for the bricks that were used to build the original factory and, later, for the specialist cottages on Colonial Road.

In July 2008, 39 hectares of the property were sold to a group comprised of North Shore City, Auckland Regional Council, ASB Communities Trust, and the New Zealand Government. The result of this arrangement was the creation of the heritage park, the largest coastal park in Auckland. The park also has direct connections with Chatswood Reserve, Kauri Point Centennial Park, and several smaller reserves, making it the largest contiguous section of parkland on the North Shore.

Flanking and including Duck Creek, the park supports native forest and bush, wetlands, and a wide range of plants and animals. Trees include kauri, manuka, and kanuka, as well as beech, Pohutukawa, and kowhai. A wide range of birds inhabit Duck Creek and the surrounding hills, including duck, shag, swan, kingfisher, fantail, tui, grey warbler, kereru, pukeko, and eastern rosella. There are several tracks that criss-cross the reserves and parks, many of which can be accessed from surrounding residential subdivisions.

Follow the trail into the park and stop behind the brick houses.