We have had illness in the house this week (only the two non sickies went out last night) so today's adventure was a slow wander. We started with the intention of just doing the short loop of Bledisloe Park. Just a little walk to get some fresh air and move the sicky bodies.
Mr T led us confidently around the loop stopping to peer over into the stream at each opportunity. He was on the look out for ducks. Once at the end of the loop, I asked him which way. He picked uh and pointed with the steps. My bad… But given I offered the choice, it was only right to follow through… We wandered up. As we got further up he got a little slower and added a grunt at each step. He was working hard. We decided to head back down one flight from the top (otherwise it would have been an extra extra long adventure). Back at the bottom, Toddler charged off running. We caught up and overtook. "No Mama! Me!". He wanted to be the leader. He happily led us back to the car. A short, child led adventure. One of the best kinds.
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Tonight was a night walk with a twist. I had been waiting patiently for Manawatū Summer Shakespeare. On our walks I have been watching as their team slowly set up shop down by the river. Each time there was a little more prop and intrigue.
Tonight we headed down. It was suggested that we park at the Esplanade train station and there would be a guide to lead us down to the theatre. Through a little hole in the bushes we wend our way down through the bushes, ducking under a branch or too until we found ourselves in an enchanted forest complete with giggling fairies, fairy lights, swings, and fairy folk music. We settled in around the camp fire and waited for the night show to begin. The show was fantastic. Wonderful, animated actors, audience interaction, hilarious fun and thoughtful sets and stage. The campfire was even lit as darkness fell and kept going as part of the story. Just brilliant. 100% recommend! By the end it was very dark and the wander back up to the car was a little more difficult on the unfamiliar pathway... But it was an extremely fun night time adventure! (no photos because they all looked like a big flash of fire light. Check out the official 'gram at https://www.instagram.com/palmyshakespeare/?hl=en) We parked on Springdale Grove and wandered through the bush (recently a lot of tree removed so it's a bit bare and not very shady until the shrubs and ferns grow up) walk up to Atawhai Park.
Mr 2 loved the undulating pathway and was stoked to find some steps to climb. Atawhai Park is brilliant. It has a range of play equipment including a short flying fox and a basketball hoop. It's got a big open space to run, kick a ball or stare out onto the hills. It's away from the road so good for runners. Either end has bush walks if you're feeling adventurous. One end goes down toe Bledisloe Park, the other out to Springdale Gove. Otherwise, park on Atawhai Road and head through the main of side entrances. Recommend! Ahimate Reserve is a spot that keeps on giving. There are so many little adventures to have here. Today we went for a walk and ended up spending most of our time hanging out in the shady, cool spots of Bill’s Bush.
Bill’s Bush is a remnant of original totara and a single northern rata, which has been replanted over the years by local residents. Bill Regnault is the Bill in the name. It is near to the Buick Crescent entrance to the reserve area but you you'll find it if you head in that general direction from anywhere in the reserve. Once inside, you'll probably come across plenty of Palmy Rocks - we did and toddler was quite intrigued. Once they became projectiles, I picked them up and hid them for the next person. We wandered along spotting rocks until we came across some little houses that must be for wee fairy folk. We stopped here for snacks and sit. Thank you to the kind friends who helped the fairies prepare their homes. Let’s just go for a little walk, we said. Let’s go up the hill a little bit, we said… If you know me it doesn’t take much to convince me to keep going a little further, which is just what we did today on the Fern Walk. The Fern Walk is about twenty five minutes from town up into the Pohongina Valley. Easy drive but you have to be careful not to miss the carpark on the right hand side of the road. It’s just past the Totara Reserve signage. The track is lovely and wide, lovely and flat. It’s pram appropriate till the first bridge, which is narrow to cross and has a couple of stairs at either end. Then, up until the start of the loop, it’s an easy amble with lots of spots to explore including weta hotels and various points of entry to the stream. The whole track is great for a baby carrier and for little adventurous legs. When the track turns into a loop we thought “we’ll go a little way up and then turn back…” but then it gets a little more difficult. If you don’t want to do the full 2.5 hour loop, stop here of just wander up the right hand loop at little way. Once we had started up the left hand loop, we realised it was easier and safer (not that it was dangerous per sae, just a little steep and stoney in spots) to carry on up and around - as per the sign’s suggestion. Toddler managed most of the uphill without falling off the edge... Well, of course he didn’t fall off the edge at all but half way up he began to get a bit too daring and oblivious to the edge so up into the backpack he hopped. He did really well at navigating the various sets of stairs and zig-zags. Near the top, there is a fallen tree that requires a few metres of crawling - or limbo if you’re game and bendy. Mr 2 and his mama managed to do it without taking the backpack off. He has just learned that treating his mum like a horsey is pretty fun so a horsey ride through the bushes was a great adventure (except for the bit where his head got a bonk on the way back to standing, whoops mama). Miss 11 was aggrieved at having to go all the way up. Her disgust was slightly moderated by Whittaker's 100 and 1000s chocolate (wow, amazingly amazing, imo!) but the harrumphing did continue until we reached the top. Then she bounded off and we didn’t see her until we got back to the start of the loop. At which time she let us know she’d been waiting basically for ever... love my tweenager. Once at the top, the track wanders along the ridge offering lovely glimpses of the valley’s beautiful podocarp forest - full of all the beauties: ponga, mamaku, kahikatea... the list is long - and a little side trip to a huge beautiful specimen of Northern Rata. This part of the amble was long but very easy. You could spend a lot of time up here but today we needed to be back in town for the afternoon.
The way down was similar to the Tawa Loop - pretty easy for little legs to navigate, wide formed track, a few sets of stairs and a little gravelly in spots but nothing terrible. In all the Fern Walk is a long one and next time I’d like to make sure we have all day free to take it easy and explore more slowly. Everyone had tired legs at the end and enjoyed a restful afternoon (and this Mama let the tech time happen guilt free!). I love being in the bush, it's real, free and a beautiful way to spend time. |
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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