On the morning of Christmas Eve I went for my last trail run in the Waitakeres for who knows how long. Vicki’s favourite trail is Omanawainui , which I am going to say is not one of mine. Last time I ran Omana, we ran up it in a howling wind and horizontal rain, as the trail is largely exposed it was not a huge bundle of laughs ! However, Christmas Eve was virtually cloudless and still, so I suggested we run down Omana and back up Kura, giving us a run under two hours, which was all I was capable of after an average ride yesterday.
With a wee bit of trepidation we took off , jogged up the start of Omana. After the mudfest that was Home track last week I was a bit concerned about the conditions on the trail, Omana is steep in parts and I really wanted to avoid twisting an ankle with only three days to go before I leave ! Concerns were completely unwarranted, it was like we were running in a different season to last week, the track was very dry and verging on dusty in parts. My one complaint !! the amount of gorse and cutty grass was appalling, almost made the track unusable in parts.
Omana has some stunning views over the Manukau harbour and Whatipu Beach. I have never seen (I say this regularly) the harbour so still, stunning !
Looking back up the harbour towards Cornwallis
I am looking vaguely atheletic 🙂
Looking over Whatipu Beach
Whatipu ! I have never seen it so still, it looked like you could have snorkelled there !
After Omana we ran up Kura track back to the car. While Omana is either steeply up or steeply down, Kura completely lulls you into a false sense of security by being flat for the first couple of KM’s, running through some nice second generation native forest with four little stream crossings. It then ends with a brutal climb to the Puriri Ridge track and a wee flat jog back to the start.
It was a great last run (stagger up the hills), great weather, stunning views and good company !
Come on Auckland Council, this gorse and cutty grass is ridiculous !
Where is Phil now? 
The photos are amazing… it was an amazing day. NZ feels very flat just now… I wonder when the colour will come back in?
😦
xx
Actually I think you meant Good Views and Stunning Company – but thats ok, I expect you were a bit addled with your preparations for the undertaking of a lifetime so I forgive you for the transposition.