Scenic Sunday: Stone walls at Otuataua

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Out at Mangere, at the Otuataua, there were miles and miles of stone walls. Some of the have crumbled, and farmers put an electric wire to prevent cows from crossing, and also deter adventurers like me.

The 100 ha Otuataua stonefields nearby are one of the few remnants of an original 8000ha of volcanic stonefields in the Auckland area, all intensively cultivated by early Maori settlers. The stones flung out in successive volcanic eruptions were used to demarcate garden plots and to warm the soil, extending the growing season for tropical crops like taro and kumara by one month.