It was a chilly morning when we all caught the train into Wellington. The forecast was for rain around lunchtime, so we were hopeful of getting the walk in before that. We started by climbing up through the Bolton St Cemetery and stopped for the lookout over Tinakori Road. Problem was, the trees had grown so much, there was no view. Back on up the hill and we were stopped by the work going on to restore Begonia House. With that track closed, we had to take the option of straight up the hill to a cluster of buildings including the Met Office and Space Place. At this point we had a shower pass through. Luckily it didn’t last long. We walked past the Cable Car and Restaurant and went down a path and steps to Kelburn Park. It was then through some bush at the back of the park which came out onto Salamanca Road just past the Squash Courts. Across the road and back up the hill towards the Hunter Building of Victoria University but we turned off into Mount St Cemetery, Wellington’s oldest cemetery. We stopped for morning tea here and perched on a tombstone. I am sure the resident didn’t mind!

From there it was a bit of street walking apart from skirting the Boyd Wilson Field, which was astroturf and used by the University for a multitude of sports. From there it was down an alley and past Te Aro School and we came out at the bottom end of The Terrace. We then took a lane through to Aro Park and walked up Aro St and turned into Honiana Te Puni St. There were some beautifully restored Victorian Villas around this area. Towards the end of this street were more steps which led up to Tanera Park where after admiring the views, we took a look into the Tanera Community Gardens. It seemed to be more like each gardener had their personal garden – really cool. A short walk down took us to Ohiro Road and Central Park, our finishing point.

From here we walked back around to Aro St and had a cuppa at a lovely café before a 30-minute walk back to the Railway Station and then a train home. The weather was on the turn by now, so we were very lucky to get this walk in.

Leader – Judith

Walkers – Mark, Helen, Nicky, Denise, Angela, Christine, Jane, Anne-Mette, and Sheila