It's always nice to introduce a friend to one of my favourite places, and have a walk and a chatter.
Today we headed to Bledisloe Park and more specifically, the Arboretum. We stuck to the pram friendly parts as toddler decided he wanted to have a ride rather than walk or be carried. We crossed the first and second bridges, headed through the Bledisloe Park loop track, past the second stairs and over the third bridge. After the third bridge, we turned left (second left) to carry on walking in the bush (not out to the ring road) and over bridge number four. Instead of following the Te Araroa Trail track up the hill (see our other adventure up there), we carried on through the bush track. Today the cicada voice was strong. It's a great place for cicada spotting and then shell collecting later in the season. The bush track soon opens into a clearing and you can wander along a well worn track that sticks pretty close to the stream. In summer the ground is really dry but it winter it gets a bit boggy and less pram friendly. There are a few roots to contend with but nothing too bumpy. There are many holey trees to explore, and rocks and mini hills to clamber over. In fact, over the mini hill (stopbank for the Turitea stream) in one of my favourite spots in all of Palmy - the Arboretum. The Arboretum is full of exotic species of plants and trees, developed by a former Massey groundsman, Dave Bull. Read more about this lovely project here. Today we walked along the stream all the way to the gated bridge. If you don't have a pram, heading over the bridge and to the right up the hill leads you up to the back of Massey University by the playing fields. Another nice wander but today, we didn't cross the bridge and instead followed the stream to the left till we reached the Massey No Entry sign. At this point, we hooked a left over the stopbank and into the Arboretum. The arboretum is a great place for a shady picnic, a romantic wander, and a fascinating look at non traditional garden plantings. Sometimes it is a little overgrown but to me that's part of its charm. It's described as a secret garden and I wholeheartedly agree with this. This time, we had two sleeping babes so we didn't stop or explore too deeply (for fear of waking them!). By the time we'd wandered back through the bush, over the bridges and the loop track, both were awake from their mini naps. We stopped for a bit under a big shady tree on the Massey grounds and played with sticks and spiky chesnuts (maybe, not quite sure what they were!) and toddler did some running up and down a nearby hill. Whether you're into a slow wander, splashing in streams, exploring holey trees, admiring beautiful bushes or listening to the cicada cacophony - the Arboretum and wider Bledisloe Park has everything you need for an adventure.
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AuthorI'm Kate. I have 3 children - 2 bios and a steppie, 1 under 5 and 2 tweenagers. I am determined to spend more time outside this year and share more of Palmy's wonderful places and free play activities. Categories
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