Getting back to our trip to Cape Palliser last weekend, as I promised. There are two things the area is known for – the seal colony along the shore, and the lighthouse. So naturally we went to see both. New Zealand fur seals are always a treat to see. They’re a pretty laid back bunch, [...]

Sure, it sounds a bit melodramatic – but if you’re a Lord of the Rings junkie (like me) you know what I’m talking about. The rather desolate scenery used to create the Paths of the Dead are actually located in a reserve called the Putangirua Pinnacles. We decided to use Wellington Anniversary weekend to head [...]

Footbridge in the Catchpool Valley I’m back with the promised second post about hikes within an hour’s drive from Wellington. Sadly, we didn’t manage to squeeze a walk in this weekend because Wellington is kicking up one of its famous gales. Apparently the gusts got up to 140 km/h! Surprisingly, these big blows seem to [...]

Eastern Walkway One of the really nice things about living in Wellington is how close we are to a lot of good hiking areas. Going for a day hike can be a great way to touch base with nature when you can’t spare the whole weekend for an overnighter. I thought I’d dedicate a post [...]

First of all, my apologies for not posting anything for so long. I’m afraid it hasn’t been a very tramping-heavy summer for me. Too much non-blogworthy stuff to do! Today, though, we decided we were long overdue for a decent walk. On my insistence, we checked out a track we’ve never walked before. This track [...]

Yesterday we finally got a bit of summer weather here in Wellington, and we decided to go check out a part of Kaitoke Regional Park we’d never explored. After a look around the camping and picnic area for possible future reference (and I was surprised how many people were using the campground considering it’s not [...]