Todd Talks By Todd Muller

I've walked up Mauao a few times during the 40-plus years I've been living in the Bay. But there is something about ascending Mauao 38 times in a little more than seven weeks that sears it in the soul. We are guardians of a national treasure and I've fallen in love with the place all over again. 

Thirty-eight times is enough to ensure you get to experience it in all weather, from baking sun to drenching rain – and everything in between. 

I've been single file due to the amount of people, I've been alone at the top with just my heavy breathing for company. With tui so close you could almost touch them, light dancing through the canopy, mist rolling in from the sea, briefly separating me from a view that has few peers in this country.

With the exception of one local, who curmudgeonly snarked at tourists to keep left, I've experienced only happy people – or at least immensely satisfied when they get to the top. Families, foreigners, people trying to talk and breathe at the same time, those lost in their thoughts or their latest podcast. Our Mauao hosts them all, day after day. 

My 38^th walk was with our local Tourism Bay of Plenty leader Kristin Dunne, who has more cause than most to give voice to both the breathtaking vista and the local Women's Refuge that will benefit from our communities generosity.

She spoke to me of her love of our place and space, its obvious tourism potential, but more powerfully – the transforming capacity of nature for those who seek refuge from life's at times gruelling demands.

Mauao will always speak more powerfully than my limited ability to add or detract. You just need to walk and breathe, it does the rest.