44. Rocky Bay (in Titahi Bay)

March 6

This was almost too short to count as a walk but it is such a cool place. You park on Terrace Road and walk down into the beach. It is quite boggy down here when it has been raining. Lots of rock pools to explore.

We made our way toward the right side of the beach and along the side you see a tunnel. It is a well formed tunnel and you only need to crouch a little ( if you are 5 ft 4:D ). You emerge into another beach area.

Carry on to the far side of the beach and there is another tunnel. You have to climb up through this one although it isn't hard.  You come out this time into an area that has seen quite a bit of slippage.

We have a letterbox hidden here.

About 1 100 steps

43. Rather Random Town Walk

March 4

houses along Oriental Parade

My intention this morning was to drop the girls off and walk along Oriental parade and out in the direction of the airport. But due to my great organisational skills - I forgot to buy food for lunch - I had to change my plans.

There was no parking near where the girls had drama so I let them out and parked in the free parking along Oriental Parade. I then wandered along, dropped off some forms at the Ocean Sports place and headed to the supermarket across the road from Te Papa. In the middle of the supermarket my phone (with Radio Nowhere as my ringtone) started going off at full volume - the girls must have been playing with the volume. So anyway, Mark wanted to meet for lunch.

I delivered lunch to the girls and then headed through Courtney Central towards the Old Bank Centre. I love how busy it is walking through town. I can't decide if this is because I feel like I can disappear into a crowd or if I enjoy knowing I don't have to do this everyday.

City to Sea Bridge

Walked along Willis Street and managed to find Mark. Walked back through Civic Square and went over the City to Sea Bridge. Wandered back back along the waterfront and drove to where the girls were now doing African drumming and dancing.

About 10 000 steps

Boat sheds along Oriental Parade

42. Colonial Knob via Seven Pines

March 1

This track starts at Spicer Forest. You take the main track up to reservoir number one and just before you reach it, take a turn to the left. You climb up a short way to a ridge and go down to the stream. Not far past here there is a track to the right.

The first 3/4 of the track is uphill and reasonably steep. And there are steps - not nearly as many as the Camp Elsdon starting point - but at this stage you don't know that!

On the way up through the bush you do pass some massive pine trees. I didn't count them but I presume there must have been 7.

At the top of the bush you cross over a fence into farmland. You have a choice of taking the proper track to the right which goes through lots of gorse, or taking a slight detour to the left which is clear (we did this on the return trip).

To this point it was a windy but sunny day. As we carried on up we were surrounded by low lying clouds. It was stunning. It felt like a completely different place. I guess we might have been disappointed if we were hoping to enjoy the views that you usually get up here - but we loved it. The rest of the trip up was quite easy.

14 000 steps

41. Wairaka Walkway

February 28

This is a really cool walkway that runs along the coast between Pukerua Bay and Plimmerton. It is a mostly flat walk but for long stretches you are walking on deep pebbles/rocks which is quite tough going. There are also a few places where you are climbing over rocks.

We parked at Pukerua Bay Beach and headed towards the end of the beach. You continue along the path towards the big rock with a hole through it. The path is still pretty well established at this point. As you pass the rock, you continue around a corner and you will come across a big fence between two huge rocks. You need to climb up to it and the left end opens out like a curtain.

The hills have eyes :)

This is where the real walk starts. We didn't meet anyone this day (except for a group of sheep) and the last time we only came across one other couple. It is so beautiful and rugged. There are places where you can follow a track but it looks like there was a big rockfall and the track was buried or in other places slipped away.

The end of the walkway brings you to a deserted quarry and around to the Marae. We walked through plimmerton and caught the train back to Pukerua Bay. From here you just follow your nose back to the beach - there are several ways.

Highly recommend this walk!

19 500 steps

40. Oriental Parade

February 25

Today the girls were at drama in town, so Master 5 and I set off for a walk in search of a playground we had been told about. I had consulted a website a few weeks before and thought it couldn't be too hard to find.

We parked just past Freyberg pool so that he wouldn't get distracted by the normal playground. It was a bit of a stormy day so the waves were splashing up against the walls. We decided it would be fun to try to walk as far as we could along the wall instead of the footpath.

I really must start printing out maps and bringing copies with me as we didn't find the playground with the inground slide. Instead we crossed the road and took a path up from Oriental Parade that followed the Southern Walkway.

We took the next main path back down to Oriental Parade and stopped for an icecream and watched an older lady brave the waves.

About 5 000 steps.

39. Belmont Park - Korokoro Stream Walk

February 21

This track starts at Cornish Street in Petone. I liked the look of this one because it was a reasonable length but an easy grade (my legs were sore from the gym).

The main part of the track is following the stream through an open valley. It was quite narrow in places. Still looked lovely and green despite the dry summer and there were lots of wildflowers.

About 45 minutes in you reach the main forest area of Belmont Park. The track was a bit wet in places so probably gets quite muddy in winter. It was really peaceful and there were a few places along the stream where you could have stopped to sit or have a splash in the water.

The walk finishes at the Korokoro Dam. We sat for a while and just watched the water and some ducks before heading back.

14 000 steps

38. Wellington Waterfront

February 12

We were coming into town for the girls to take part in a performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. We parked near the fire station beside the railway.

It was a beautiful, still day. I always find it interesting walking along the waterfront as there are so many people and things to observe. We walked as far as Mac's Brewery which is where the Summer Market Performances were taking place.

The walk back was lovely as we weren't rushing. The girls got a few strange looks as they were still in costume.

6 000 steps