Cycle and Train Motat to Henderson and Back

This is a simple cycle-centric day-trip around Auckland City starting and ending at Auckland’s technology museum, MOTAT going through the Henderson area. The following map (credit to OpenStreetMap for the base image) shows the route.

We decided to only cycle half of the trip and first cycled from MOTAT (A) over to the Bladwin Avenue train station (B) on the Western Line. The train appears to run frequently, but we were lucky that a train arrived just after we got to the platform. The central portion of the train has space for bikes and at the time of writing there is no extra cost for taking a bike on the train.

We disembarked at Henderson station (C) where there are lifts to take the bikes down to ground level. From there we cycled through the Corbans Art Estate to the south along the Opanuku Stream to Border Road (D) and then back to Henderson station (C).

We then continued north. The signage around Cranwell Park near the train station was quite confusing and we had to resort to a digital map which lead us correctly behind the Henderson Bowling Club.

A wee way down Oratia Stream we crossed onto Central Park Drive traversing the stream. A few minutes later down this road we came to “Little Sister Cafe” (E) which had a range of good options for lunch. The scene wasn’t picturesque, but the food was good and there was ample opportunity to park a bike outside the cafe.

We then cycled down the North-western Motorway back toward MOTAT (A). The way here is well-formed and utilitarian. You get a good view back to the central city along the estuary adjacent to the motorway.

Great sights were not on the agenda with this trip, but it was good to explore more of the city on two wheels and get some exercise. Most of the route was off-road so felt safe to us. The whole trip was easily accomplished in half a day.