It was a simply glorious day when 9 of us left Silverstream to hopefully find a couple of car parks in the Aro Valley. We were lucky enough to find two in Holloway Road. The start of the walk was easy enough as we followed a cycle track which zigzagged gradually up the hill through some beautiful bush and a couple of reasonable views before coming out at George Denton Park in Highbury. We stopped here for morning tea before joining onto the Zealandia Perimeter Track. This track covers the entire perimeter of the Zealandia predator proof fence line, but we were just completing the slog up to the turbine. Parts of this track get extremely steep, so I was pretty glad when I reached the top and was able to enjoy some stunning views. It’s always a plus when you have a clear day. After a photo stop, we followed the road down to the Brooklyn Bunkers, old WWII remnants of gun emplacements and barracks, which have now been covered with some great graffiti art. This area has some fantastic views of Wellington Harbour and we sat on the roof of a bunker for lunch. Some went right out onto the roof, so they could eat and enjoy the views. After lunch it was short walk back down the road to the entrance back into Polhill Reserve, where we went down several flights of steps and then onto the Transient Track which led us back through the bush to Aro Street. From there it was a 10-minute walk back to our cars. We had walked just over 12kms in around 4 hours including our breaks.

Some of us enjoyed a cold drink at the Silverstream Pub on our return to Upper Hutt.

Lead - Judith O’Leary

Walkers: Denise, Suzanne, Helen and Mark, Annemarie, Lynn and Bex and Louisa (prospective new members).