We had a lovely warm day for this walk which was very untypical for May as the temperature raced up to 18 degrees. 9 of us met up by Trentham Memorial Park and walked through Domain Bush, past the playing fields and onto Moonshine Park. Here we followed the cycle trail past the Golf Club until we came to the entrance taking us to Kiwi Park. Once at the park we turned right and followed the Mawai Hakona Stream back to the Hutt River. This is a really pretty area where the stream has been cleared of weed so it can flow properly and accompanied by a large number of native plantings. This has all been done by volunteers.

Once back out on the river trail, it was a very short distance to the Silverstream Bridge which we crossed and walked North to the Moonshine Bridge. I had expected this to be a very noisy walk but as we were below the highway, the noise was not as bad as the other side of the river. We saw some Paradise Ducks quaking away and noted how the river had changed course. Every time we have rain, something changes. Once back across the Moonshine Bridge, it was only another 30 minutes to get back to Trentham Memorial Park which included a walk-through Barton’s Bush. We had taken around 2.5 hours to complete a 12km walk. Most of us went across the road to Café Equinox for a much needed cuppa.

It was a lovely walk.

Lead - Judith O’Leary

Walkers: Angela, Sheila, Jane, Helena, Stephanie R, Christine, Anne-Mette and Telas.