Treasures & Delights of Parnell Heritage Walk
Fringed by the waterfront and the Domain, Parnell is New Zealand's oldest suburb and the influential early base of the Anglican church. Stroll down streets lined with colonial houses and steeped in Auckland's history.
In this 4.9 km walk, you'll see many of Parnell's heritage-listed buildings as you walk through some of the streets and reserves of New Zealand's oldest suburb.
Walk Details
Time: Allow 2.5 hours
Level of Difficulty: This is a fairly easy walk, with a few gentle slopes.The access to and from Scarborough Reserve is steep and can be slippery in winter. If you would find this stretch difficult, walk to the top of St George's Bay Road, then right on Parnell Road to St Johns church at the corner of Denby Street where you can resume the podcast walk.
This walk is not suitable for prams and buggies.
Parking: There is metered parking at Auckland Domain, although it can be difficult to find a park during work hours and when there are weekend sports and activities in The Domain.
Train Stations: Parnell Station is now open, but services are limited. Use Newmarket Station on Remuera Road.
Bus: Link buses travel in a circuit through the City and inner city suburbs, with stops outside the Jubilee Building and along Parnell Road shopping area.
Walk Highlights
Kinder House
Ewelme Cottage
St Mary's & Holy Trinity Cathedral
Historic buildings on Parnell Road and St Stephens Avenue
Alberon and Scarborough Reserves
Parnell Village
Walk route
Treasures & Delights of Parnell is a 4.9km walk. It starts at the Jubilee Building (Parnell Community Centre), 545 Parnell Road, Parnell and finishes at the corner of Parnell Road and St Stephens Avenue. The map below shows the walk route and the highlights visited along the way.
Download and print a map of the walk to take with you.
Use Google Maps on your walk
Follow the map route on your mobile phone using this map - click here
Podcast
Download a podcast of the walk developed by our walk leaders, Alan Wild and Patricia Yurak. The podcast is 34 minutes long. Follow the directions and pause the recording as you walk between points of interest.
The podcast of this walk is available on Soundcloud here. Download the walk to your computer or mobile phone from the Download button in the Soundcloud widget above. You can play the walk directly from your mobile device using Soundcloud's Mobile App.
Find out more
Once you've done this walk, you'll probably want to find out more about the interesting places and people you've heard of along the way. Here are some links to help you continue your exploration of the Treasures & Delights of Parnell.
Our Walk Leaders
A Parnell resident for more than 60 years, Patricia Yurak shared her passion for the history of her neighbourhood with hundreds of walkers over the years. Prior to starting her walks with Parnell Trust in 2008, Patricia led groups of locals and tourists on tours of heritage tours of Parnell.
She was inspired to develop her “Hidden Treasures of Parnell” walk to share the many fascinating details and stories she read in the diaries of Reverend Vicesimus Lush, who built Ewelme Cottage.
Patricia volunteered her time and energy to other Parnell Trust activities over the years, including starting Parnell Community Centre’s highly successful Bridge group and the Film group. Patricia passed away in 2017.
Alan Wild
This walk is brought to you by The Village Square Trust, with generous support from ASB Community Trust.
