Commonwealth Walkway – Sunday 8 May 2022

6 of us gathered at our starting point by Ghandi’s statue in front of Wellington Railway Station. It was a fine but somewhat blustery day. After a photo in front of the statue, we set off on a walk around Central Thorndon stopping at Wellingtons Oldest Pub, The Thistle Inn which when built was on the waterfront. We continued up past the National Archives, looked at a statue of former Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and progressed up to see the old Lion Brewery Building, now part of a New World supermarket. It was then across the road to see the Hungarian Archway, which was beautifully carved before heading through Parliament Grounds. You could see the ongoing repair work in progress from damage down through the month-long protest. It was then past the Cenotaph to the Wai-titi Landing which is where the first plaque for the Commonwealth Walkway was laid. We crossed the road and headed up Lambton Quay past the historic Government Buildings, now part of Victoria University. It is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. We peered through the doors at the ovoid shaped court completely clad in copper. It is almost like the Tardis from Dr Who. We moved on taking in the shell statues and across the road was the statue of Katherine Mansfield, one of our literary greats. It was then across the road and up Woodward St to the Kumutoto Stream Soundscape. Standing there we listened to the sound of water flowing and bird calls. This is what this place would have sounded like before the stream was sent underground into large culverts. Apparently there are still fish in the pipes travelling between where the stream appears again near Victoria University and the sea.

From there we continued our walk up Lambton Quay, passing Cable Car Lane, stopping at the statue John Plimmer and his dog before heading down to basement of The Old Bank Arcade to see the remnants of Plimmer’s Ark. The wrecked ship, the Inconstant was brought by John Plimmer in 1851. He beached it in front of his house on Lambton Quay and converted it into a shop with access from a newly built wharf. The shop became known as Plimmers Ark.

We then explored around the Wellington Town Hall, had some fun with the statue created by Weta Workshop for the 2012 Rugby World Cup. Ex All Black Victor Vito has been forever immortalised along with Hurricane players Jacob Ellison and James Broadhurst. We had a bit of a discussion about the hand adorning the Art Gallery before heading across the City to Sea Bridge to the waterfront. We took a look at the Waka’s housed in Te Wharewaka O Poneke. At this point RJ left us and we continued around the waterfront passing the Solace of the Wind statue before having a bit of fun with the Wellington Art Work, where you become the I. It was then a stroll through the market to get some lunch. The wind had really picked up by now and it was a challenge to find a sheltered spot. Janice spotted one and we sat on a concrete ledge amongst the bushes.

After lunch we walked back along the waterfront and headed up to Old St Pauls. This is a spectacular old wooden church and of special interest were the chest of drawers containing 6 different Altar Cloths. Some were well over 100 years old and the stitching just amazing.

Time was getting on, so we took a shortcut back through parliament grounds to our cars. It had been a really interesting day out.

Judith O’Leary