This column is called ...

...hidden Auckland parks you didn't know about.

OK - so you bought the house. You're finally on the property ladder. Oh, not quite in Grey Lynn - we're not yuppies! - but it's a nice place in the burbs. On the up, you know (they opened a cafe a while back), although it's a wee way out ...

So you do the commute (the grinding commute) every day. And every day you see the sign on Dominion Rd pointing to Taylors Park, and think "I guess some day I'll take a look."

Well don't wait your whole life, buddy. Taylors is right up there in my list of little-known-but-lovely green spaces. It slopes rapidly from the top, has a view, a good selection of native trees, and will fill you with peace, contentment - and the peptic burn of real estate envy, when you see all those houses with back yards merging into the green.

Next on the list is Edenvale Park. It lies between Edenvale Park Rd and Brentwood Ave, and looks like a classic Auckland gully park - designated as public space, because at the time it was developed, the ground was too steep or boggy. Now, it's a little piece of quiet - with a multi-leveled, Japanese feel. The Brentwood entrance is best - it drops down steep volcanic- stone steps (from the days when pillaging Mt Eden for building material was A-OK), and spills you into a dappled space that's currently doing an impression of autumnal tranquillity. It's curiously empty at lunchtimes. Where are the TV3ers from the nearby offices, gossiping in their lunch break about the takeover? What, you'd rather eat in the carpark?

LESS manicured is a reserve I stumbled across one morning while looking for a shortcut to the airport. I was very late, very hungover, and - when my mother called to say "don't worry, the flight's delayed" - very relieved. With time on my hands, I concentrated on going from lost, to loster - and ended up in a stunning little area that I may never find again. Brilliant! A secret park that's secret even from myself.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was the waterfront area below either Cape Horn Rd or Sylvania Cres - which means it was probably Wattle Reserve. In any case, a walk through tall trees found the tide out on the Manukau, and as I picked my way around the shore, every rock or branch was daubed with the lapis lazuli of Kingfishers. Hundreds of the little buggers - and they all laughed when I slipped on the mud and went up to my ankles.

Yep, it was a twitcher's paradise - though I'll cut short the ornithological geek-speak, and just add that there were picnic tables at the bay around corner.

Next up: the twin gully reserves of Wellpark and Francis. Did you know these strips of green existed? You could throw an expensive organic apple from Harvest Wholefoods in the West Lynn shops, and hit a small child playing in Francis Reserve. Get a takeaway coffee from Mamata bakery on a sunny day, sit beneath the two huge gum trees, and breathe in the eucalyptus oil that carries on the warm air. Wellpark Reserve is one street over; larger, and better hidden.

Honestly - considering what Grey Lynn land is worth now, it's an enormous slice of green. It also has an excellent stand of oak trees, and rad art deco lamp posts.

OK - just one more. This place is worth mentioning simply for its proximity to busy Ponsonby Rd. Turn down Tole St (which is a dead-end off the Ponse), walk down the path at its end, and you find yourself in Tole Reserve.

The top part is noisy, with skate bowls and an adjacent childcare centre (the constant screaming is a good cure for nesting urges), but round the corner is a neat sculptured Nikau grove. It would be a nice place to see the sun come up some summer morning after an all-nighter - if you're into that sort of thing. Anyway, that's all for now. Other secret park locations gratefully received.

Finally, a follow-up to an earlier piece. Last week I got in touch with Transit, curious about how requests to fly flags from the Harbour Bridge are handled. It turns out that anyone can apply, regardless of your connection to the country (or lack thereof), so long as: 1) it's recognised by the UN; 2) the flag goes up on their day of independence; and 3) your request comes with the blessing, on paper, of the relevant embassy.

Well, I quite fancied having a flag on the bridge. So I randomly picked Mongolia from a list of obscure countries with upcoming national days, got to point three, found that their embassy was based in Beijing - and gave up. It all seemed too horde - ha!

In retrospect, it was lazy of me. But luckily, a reader sent in the contact details for the Mongolian ambassador, and suggested I give him a try. How proud would the handful of New Zealand Mongolians be, he asked, to see their flag flapping over the harbour?

So off went the email - and back came a reply! It seems an official letter is on its way. Stand by, Transit!

In the meantime, those wanting to join in the United Nations fun just need to look up an embassy and a date. May I suggest Burundi (July 1), the Cape Verde Islands (July 5), or Azerbaijan (Oct 18)?

Just leave July 11 alone. I've bagsed it.

- © Fairfax NZ News