Wellington has some great walks. Here are some of the best ones.
One of my all-time favourite walks in Wellington is up Mt Albert in Newtown. This walk is part of the Southern walkway and, in my opinion, the best part. It is not that well-known so there are now crowds, à la Mt Vic, and the view is just as good.
Also, cheetahs! I mean, not free roaming or anything, Zoo cheetahs.
To begin the walk I like to start from Russell Terrace. Its about half way up the road, opposite the northern exit of Edinburgh Terrace. There is a road that turns left down to Newtown Park. Walk up that road until you see some stairs on the right. Take those, and you'll see a track up into the trees behind the basketball court. This is the start of the walk.
There are a few different tracks you can take, but most will lead to the top. I like to keep turning right, past the hockey stadium, until I get to the top, and then go back down past the zoo. The walk goes through forest and a bit of grass, and in summer there are loads of blackberries to eat. It's a bit of a climb to get to the top, but only for ten minutes or so. If you take the right turns it's more of a gradual climb, whereas left is steeper but shorter.
There are two look-out points you can go to.
On the southern side is Mt Albert itself...there is a marker up there so you know you are at the top. From there you can walk down to the road for the rest of the Southern walkway.
The second look-out north. Continue on the gorse-lined loop track until you get to a wooden seat. The view at the top is spectacular. And there are hardly any people up there. You can see all the way out to the lighthouse of the far side of the harbour, and even the South Island on a good day. It's my favourite place to sit and relax, while keeping an eye on my city.
On the way back, you can take a detour down to Melrose Park. This is where the back of the Wellington Zoo is. You can check out the baboon enclosure, if you're into baboons, but I don't like their attitudes. I ignore them, and walk around the fence-line until I get to a big grass enclosure that looks deserted. That's the cheetah enclosure. If you look hard enough you'll see Charlie strutting around somewhere. He likes to sleep right up against the back fence so you can often get pretty close to him.
The walk takes about half an hour if you don't muck around, or 45 mins if you're taking it slow.
One of my all-time favourite walks in Wellington is up Mt Albert in Newtown. This walk is part of the Southern walkway and, in my opinion, the best part. It is not that well-known so there are now crowds, à la Mt Vic, and the view is just as good.
Also, cheetahs! I mean, not free roaming or anything, Zoo cheetahs.
To begin the walk I like to start from Russell Terrace. Its about half way up the road, opposite the northern exit of Edinburgh Terrace. There is a road that turns left down to Newtown Park. Walk up that road until you see some stairs on the right. Take those, and you'll see a track up into the trees behind the basketball court. This is the start of the walk.
There are a few different tracks you can take, but most will lead to the top. I like to keep turning right, past the hockey stadium, until I get to the top, and then go back down past the zoo. The walk goes through forest and a bit of grass, and in summer there are loads of blackberries to eat. It's a bit of a climb to get to the top, but only for ten minutes or so. If you take the right turns it's more of a gradual climb, whereas left is steeper but shorter.
There are two look-out points you can go to.
On the southern side is Mt Albert itself...there is a marker up there so you know you are at the top. From there you can walk down to the road for the rest of the Southern walkway.
The second look-out north. Continue on the gorse-lined loop track until you get to a wooden seat. The view at the top is spectacular. And there are hardly any people up there. You can see all the way out to the lighthouse of the far side of the harbour, and even the South Island on a good day. It's my favourite place to sit and relax, while keeping an eye on my city.
On the way back, you can take a detour down to Melrose Park. This is where the back of the Wellington Zoo is. You can check out the baboon enclosure, if you're into baboons, but I don't like their attitudes. I ignore them, and walk around the fence-line until I get to a big grass enclosure that looks deserted. That's the cheetah enclosure. If you look hard enough you'll see Charlie strutting around somewhere. He likes to sleep right up against the back fence so you can often get pretty close to him.
The walk takes about half an hour if you don't muck around, or 45 mins if you're taking it slow.
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