The Albany Inn (276 Dairy Flat Highway)

A village is nothing without an inn, and Albany has had such an establishment since almost the very beginning. In 1857, William B. Montgomery, an Auckland surveyor, purchased 42 acres of land from Joseph Lyes, a Fencible soldier. Montgomery built the Wharfside Inn across from the Government Landing the next year. Shortly afterwards, he also received the license for the community’s first post office, which he ran from inside the inn. The Wharfside Inn burned down in 1886.

Montgomery had leased the inn to William Stevenson in the 1860s and the Stevenson family ran the business for several decades. When the inn burned, Stevenson rebuilt it at a slightly higher elevation across from The Avenue and rebranded it the Bridge Inn. In addition to the inn and post office, the Stevensons operated a public house and gum store within the building. To reduce the risk of fire, they replaced the shingle roof with corrugated iron in 1890.

In the 1910s, the hotel passed into the hands of E. Arthur Wilson, who renamed it the Albany Hotel & Restaurant. He purchased a building in Waimauku in 1923 and installed it beside the inn, where it served as a dedicated post office and telephone exchange building, with G. M. Spencer serving as postmistress. The hotel was later sold to John Norton around 1936, but soon afterwards the fifty-year-old building was condemned by the Health Department and demolished. Norton rebuilt the hotel in an English Cottage style and renamed it the Wayside Inn. Around the same time, he had the post office moved across the creek to the end of the Oteha Valley Road Extension and built a petrol station and garage in its place.

During World War II, American soldiers stationed at Takapuna and Warkworth enjoyed daytrips to Albany. Not only were licensing laws ignored, two illegal sixpence poker machines were installed in the hotel. The police raided the property with plans to confiscate the machines, but Norton was tipped off. His sons, Ralph and Neil, dragged the machines outside and dumped them in the creek. They were never recovered. The family sold the hotel in 1967, but their name lives on in Norton Reserve next to the Albany Mega Centre. The hotel’s restaurant continues to operate as The Albany Restaurant & Bar, as well as a Diamond Gaming Lounge.

Turn around and head southeast on Dairy Flat Highway. After crossing the bridge, turn left and follow the trail into Gills Reserve. Stop at the waterfall.