It was a beautiful clear day when we set off beside Shoreland Park in Island Bay and followed the road around to Houghton Bay. There we were treated to the amazing sight of a large school of dolphins in the bay. They were totally captivating. After dragging ourselves away, Elizabeth suggested we take a side track for another lookout she knew. Things got a little confused and I think we deviated from the lookout track. Anyway, it did get out hearts pumping! We eventually came out onto Buckley Road and turned up the Mt Albert Lookout where we had our morning tea and a photo break. We then followed the track past the hockey fields and descended down to Melrose Park which is right beside Wellington Zoo. We were treated to seeing Lemurs and Capybaras before heading out onto Sutherland Cres and up Manchester Terrace to Truby King Park. We stopped again and had a lunch break. From there it was following the through the pine trees above Newtown, where we could hear the roaring of the cars competing in the Alexander Road Hillclimb on Mt Victoria. We came out onto Coromandel St, which we followed to Constable St and looked for a coffee shop. We found a nice one on our second attempt. Afterwards we walked over to Rintoul St and caught a bus back to Island Bay. One of our group, Lynn decided to walk. She told me later it had taken 40 minutes and was a little bit more training for The Abel Tasman.

Trip Leader – Judith

Walkers – Brett, Mark, Helen, Sheila, Trisha, Denise, Lynn, Annemarie, Ethan & Elizabeth