Mt Hobson is always very beautiful at this time of year, particularly on the Remuera Road side which during Spring is festooned with daffodils. The signage says that dogs must be keep on leash but Adrienne Dodge who walks here regularly tipped me off that the cattle that normally graze here have not been seen for some time and that locals are no longer keeping their canines tethered.
The hound and I met up with Adrienne today and here canine counterparts Honey and Toby, to see for ourselves if this was so and sure enough, no livestock and lots of happy unleashed dogs.
Mt Hobson is a volcanic cone with amazing views in every direction across auckland and out to Rangitoto island. It was named after Captain William Hobson who probably inhabited the area around the same time the English oak were first planted along side the pōhutukawa, the most common type of trees on the hill.
Personally I prefer the old Māori name for the mount which is Ōhinerau. This title came from Hinerau, a goddess of whirlwinds and I think suits the hill much better.
As for the dogs, there didn’t really much care what we called the place but were exceptionally happy to be allowed to roam free. Perhaps if stock is no longer to be grazed here Auckland City Council might consider making Ōhinerau an official off leash dog exercise area.
For more information check out:
https://aucklandvolcanoes.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/ohinerau-mt-hobson/
Three paws up!
caninecapersblog 
I love your photos of happy dogs enjoying this volcano. Nice to see the daffodils too 🙂
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