Although the forecast a couple of days out was terrible, on the day it was clear and sunny, but initially with a cool breeze. We set off from the Porirua Rowing Club carpark at 10.15am. Most times we do a loop that involves quite a bit of road walking to return to the cars, but this time we did the Onepoto Loop within Whitireia Park. After a couple of kilometres of flat walking beside Porirua Harbour, we headed off to the left and up the hill which involved a steady climb and then descent which brought us down into Onehunga Bay where we had a snack. There were no cars in the carpark which was very unusual – we discovered it was because the road into the bay was closed for resealing. It was pleasant having the place almost to ourselves, only a few other walkers and cyclists. After a snack we extended our walk by heading further round the coast to Kaitawa Point, where we had a great view of Mana Island and some of us had a paddle in the beautiful clear water. We retraced our steps to the picnic table at Onehunga Bay for lunch. By this time it was a warm sunny day. After lunch we returned to our cars via the coast track, arriving at about 1.30pm. Most of us enjoyed a coffee at Columbus.

Sharon Dunstan - Trip Leader