By Justin Atkinson, 24 August 2024
There were supposed to be 13. There were actually 4. A great turnout!
Liam, Chloe, Matthew, and Justin assembled at Welly train station on a stunning day to hike the City to Sea Walkway, a 6-7 hour odyssey that starts at Parliament and ends at Island Bay. It passes through various suburbs and terrain types, making for a really interesting walk. We followed the yellow trailhead road for an authentic City2Sea experience.
We crossed the motorway through Bolton Street cemetery and enjoyed the backpaths of the Botans, before soaking in the views at the Cable Car lookout. We then danced around Kelburn campus, heading around the edges of Kelburn park and the muddy Kumutoto Forest (which VUWTC has helped to restore in partnership with SCB and WCC!), then to the old gear shed and the Boyd-Wilson Field.
Cutting through Te Aro, we passed a beautiful bird mural. We climbed into the hills of Brooklyn, encountering some cool graffiti and lush bush. We crossed through Central Park, briefly going off track as a detour was in place around a new bridge. Reaching Mount Cook, we discovered some strange hills and reserves off the beaten track. There was a very random mountain biking spot with a cool underbridge. Defo worth a look!
Vogeltown was up next. Passing loud rugby scrums and some average playgrounds, we decided it was a bit meh. We then crossed into the open spaces of Berhampore, dodging flying golf balls at the local golf course. Rising into the picturesque Tawatawa Reserve (another spot VUWTC has done conservation work at!), we got some amazing views of the nearby suburbs. With the Cook Strait finally in view, we criss-crossed more streets and hilly outcrops before nosediving into Island Bay.
In the end we took 4 and a bit hours, so we were pretty pleased with ourselves. We ended our energetic day by eating fish and chips, and hangin' with the gulls at the beach. It was very windy!