Windy Tops

Category: daywalk

  • Daywalk: Wellington to Plimmerton (via suburbia)

    I haven’t been out tramping for a while and this morning I ended up with a free day on my hands, so I decided to just walk North towards the Kapiti Coast for a while and see how far I’d get. This is actually the third time I’ve done this, and the second time in the Kapiti direction, but it’s the first time I’ve written anything about it.

    The general idea is to just walk through suburbia, keeping reasonably close to bus routes and/or railway lines so it’s easy to bail out and go home whenever it’s convenient. I quite like doing this on occasion because it involves minimal organisation and it’s not necessary to arrange any special gear. Just some contingency money for a bit of food and public transport home is all. It’s also just quite a nice change from walking through the back-country, I think. Suburbia changes quite a lot as you walk through it (at least it does on this route), and I find it interesting wandering along the streets and watching things going on as the day progresses.

    Date: 6th July, 2008
    Location: Wellington suburbs (Northland, Johnsonville, Tawa, Porirua, Plimmerton).
    People: Me.
    Intended route: Start at Northland and walk north along suburban streets in the general direction of Kapiti, keeping near public transport.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Korokoro to Dry Creek, Belmont Regional Park

    This is going to be a quick trip report because it was a fairly quick trip. The fact that the park was getting completely thrashed by a southerly helped to ensure this, I think. We didn’t really want to stop.

    Date: 19th April, 2008
    Location: Belmont Regional Park, Cornish Street to Dry Creek (Haywards Turnoff).
    People: Sarah, Mari, Edwin, Nicole and me.
    Intended route: Start at Cornish Street, walk up to Belmont Trig via Baked Beans Bend, continue around Cannons Head and Boulder Hill via the Puke Ariki Track, then exit via Dry Creek at the Haywards turnoff from State Highway 2.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    I’d originally had 9 people interested in doing this walk, but as the weekend approached we eventually filtered down to 5, through a combination of flu, weekend work issues, and one person simply not showing up. It was a good trip, albeit a little windy.

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  • Daywalk: Belmont Crossing – Porirua, Belmont Trig, Korokoro Stream, Petone

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    Bird life at the Korokoro Dam.

    I’ve walked from Petone to Porirua a couple of times now, and both times I’ve gotten lost on a farm on the Porirua side and ended up walking down some random farmer’s driveway. This time I thought I might do it in the other direction, so that maybe I could finally figure out where I should have been going.

    Date: 1st January, 2008
    Location: Belmont Regional Park, Cannons Creek Lake Reserve to Cornish Street.
    People: Just me.
    Intended route: Start at Cannons Creek, walk up past Cannons Head and Belmont Trig, then down one of the routes near the Korokoro Stream, and out at the Cornish Street exit in Petone.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Orongorongo, McKerrow, Clay Ridge

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    Near the start of the
    Orongorongo Track.

    Today’s walk was around the Rimutakas, once again centred on Catchpool Valley.

    Date: 11th November, 2007
    Location: Rimutaka Forest Park
    People: Annemarie, Stijn, David, Andrew, and me.
    [Photos]

    This is a fairly standard circuit from the Catchpool Valley road-end. It’s a matter of walking along the Orongorongo Track, almost to the Orongorongo River, but then turning off to the left up the McKerrow Track. The intersection with the Clay Ridge track is a couple of minutes before the peak of Mount McKerrow, and from there it’s a walk down the Clay Ridge track back to the parking area.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Racing around Kapakapanui

    Following the recent daywalk around Kapakapanui, I went back to Waikanae this morning because I was keen to find out how quickly I could do it. I didn’t get many photos this time, except for ones to record timestamps, since I was in a bit of a hurry. I already had a heap during the last trip, and I tend to find photos a bit boring when they don’t involve people. I won’t bother explaining too many details of the track in this report, since I think I did that in my previous post.

    Date: 10th November, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ngatiawa Road-End.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Start at the road-end, follow the loop track clock-wise up to Kapakapanui Hut, continue to Kapakapanui Trig, then continue back down to the road-end. Walk very fast.

    I’m calling this a daywalk, which is usually is, but I’m not sure if it still counts if it’s walked in three hours.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Kapakapanui

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    Looking at Kapiti Island
    from Kapakapanui

    Yesterday I went on my first ever daytrip with the trampey club, which was a nice little milestone. We went for a walk around the Kapakapanui loop track in the Tararuas. This track begins at the Ngatiawa road-end, east of Waikanae. It climbs (and then descends) about 1000 metres, and is probably about 10 kms in length.

    Date: 28th October, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ngatiawa Road-End.
    People: Bronwyn, Mike, Michelle, Éamonn, Peter, Sarah, Becky, Sally, Claus, Jo, Annemarie.
    Huts visited: Kapakapanui Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Start at the road-end, follow the loop track clock-wise up to Kapakapanui Hut, continue to Kapakapanui Trig, then continue back down to the road-end.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Te Kopahou Reserve Radar Dome to Seatoun

    I wasn’t doing anything specific this weekend, so I thought I might go for a wander around Te Kopahou Reserve. This is the area that includes the hills above Red Rocks on Wellington’s south coast, as well south of the radar dome belonging to the Airways Corporation.

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    Date: 21st October, 2007 (8.20am to 3.20pm)
    Location: Te Kopahou Reserve and Wellington South Coast
    People: Just me

    It’s very accessible and I’ve been there a few times before, but I think this is the first time I’ve written anything about it. I got around the reserve in about 3 or 4 hours, and spent the rest of the day walking around the coast to Seatoun.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: Towards Kime Hut

    Date: 10th December, 2006
    Location: Tararua Forest Park
    Huts visited: Parawai Lodge (0 nights), Field Hut (0 nights)
    People: Just me
    [Photos]

    I had a free Sunday, so I decided to drive to Otaki Forks and walk up past Field Hut. I almost got to Kime Hut, at about 1440 metres (1300 metres above the forks), but I ended up turning around and going back before finally getting there, because the snow was a bit slushy on the top and I was getting awkwardly close to risking getting stuck. (Plus it looked as if the weather might get worse for a while.)

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Daywalk: The Tongariro Crossing

    Date: 11th November, 2006
    Location: Tongariro National Park
    Huts visited: Mangatepopo Hut (0 nights), Ketetahi Hut.
    People: Dave, Celeste, Stacey and me.
    [Photos]

    Dave, Celeste, Stacey and I went up to Tongariro National Park for the weekend with the specific intention of walking the Tongariro Crossing.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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