During our first few months in Wellington we've been enthusiastically exploring the city and surrounds. Here are some links to photos that we've taken as we walked around the City, together with some images and notes on some of the longer walks we've enjoyed.

Photographing Wellington

For those of you following Project Koru and ignoring the rest rest of this site, you may have missed some of the photography that's been posted. We've been over much of the City on foot, but have still much to explore. We've also been on several walks around greater Wellington that yielded yet more images. Just to bring them together, here are a few images you might have missed:

• Wellington City;
• Boat sheds;
• Tripod;
• Tui;
• Fireworks on Wellington Harbour;
• The World visits Wellington.

These images (and many more) can also be viewed in the Wellington gallery here.

Makara Walkway

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Wind-swept views on the Makara Walkway

It's a tortuous but short drive from the City to the start of the track to the left as you face the sea at Makara Beach. The circuit takes about 3 hours, with the tough ridge climb occurring soon after setting out. This leads to the abandoned WWII gun battery, and affords views across Cook Strait to South Island. The track makes a steep descent down a dirt road to a small inlet—a good spot for lunch if you shelter from the wind behind the piled-high driftwood. The walk back to Makara along the stony beach exercises the ankles, but is worthwhile as you scan the shoreline for interesting bits of wood, paua shells, and other oceanic debris.

Eastern Walkway

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Overlooking Breaker Bay on the Eastern Walkway

We really enjoyed this one, starting at the Pass of Branda above Seatoun on the Miramar Peninsula and taking the high route overlooking Breaker Bay. You get views over Wellington Airport and Lyall Bay on the other side of the peninsula before dropping to Tarakena Bay via the Gallipoli-focussed Ataturk Memorial. We walked back to the car along Breaker Bay Road, enjoying fantasizing about which beach-front batch we'd choose. It's about 2 hours return.

Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

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Tuatara sunbathing at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

Karori Wildlife Sanctuary is not just for seeing and hearing native birds, or ancient tuatara—it also has some good walking tracks. A predator-proof fence encloses 252 hectares extending along a valley clad with mostly native forest. We became members after our fist visit (entry is not free). On a subsequent visit we hiked up the Faultline Track to the far perimeter, and followed this until we came to the wind turbine—a fair 3-hour return walk! You can download a PDF map of the tracks here.

Otari-Wilton's Bush

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Tui are easily seen in Otari-Wilton's Bush

Otari-Wilton's Bush is both a botanic garden in the traditional sense (5 hectares), and native forest reserve (100 hectares). Entry is free giving walkers access to 14 km of track through ancient and regenerating bush. We took a group walk into the Bledisloe Gorge with its many pukatea and tree ferns, guided by a knowledgeable botanist.

Northern Walkway

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View from Mt. Kaukau

There are some useful maps you can print here; the sign posting could be better. We would recommend taking the train to Raroa (Johnsonville Line) and beginning the walk from the Johnsonville Park end. The highlight must be the panoramic views over the city that can be had from the viewing platform near the TV transmitter on Mt. Kaukau. The walkway descends to Simla Crescent in Khandallah and drops into the Ngaio Gorge. After climbing out of the gorge to Hanover street there's a welcome public toilet opposite The Wadestown Kitchen. Weld Street leads to Tinakori Hill, where the path continues above Thorndon and affords more views over the harbour and city. We took the track downhill to exit from St Mary's Street onto Tinakori Road, stopping for a pint at The Speights Ale House before cutting along the edge of the Botanic Gardens to The Terrace. The 16 km walk took us about 5 hours including transport to the start point (the pints went down fast!).

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