While I was in Wellington, my daughter, Amanda suggested we walk Red Rocks, in Wellington. The day we choose was a lovely sunny morning, the southerly wind had dropped, which made it pleasant for walking. We packed up our lunch, filled our water bottles and headed off in the car to the start of the walk.
It's quite fitting that Red Rocks is my first blog, as almost 2 years ago we had a memorial service (March 2016) for my husband Ross, who passed away suddenly in 2015. We had the memorial at a beach near the car park, it was a similar day, warm and sunny with no wind.
The start of the walk is from the car park at Te Kopahou Reserve, Owhiro Bay, near Island Bay in New Zealand. The track is a flat gravel road with the sea on one side of the track and a reserve on the other. Amanda and I headed off, commenting on the beautiful blue/grey colour of the sea, The walking track is a shared road used by walkers, cyclists and 4x4 vehicles. As it was such a lovely day, there were several families and people like ourselves, along with vehicles using the track. It took us around 45 minutes to walk to Red Rocks. It's very scenic walk with lots of photo opportunities, as it was such a nice day we stopped several times to enjoy the view and to take photos. We stopped at Red rocks to eat our lunch, The seals were not in residence on this day, another walker commented that they were further along the coast. We decided not to venture further, but instead had a wander over the rocks then commenced our return journey. It was very hot by this time and with no shade on the track we did not linger too longer, so it did not take us as long to arrive back at the car park.
Gripe: as this is a shared track you need to take care on some of the narrower sections of the track. As there appears to be no speed limit for vehicles, the vehicles we encountered took advantage of this and did not slow down or pull over for walkers, making it necessary for us to stand to one side several times while vehicles went past.
Other Information:
There is a large car park at the beginning of the track at the Owhiro Bay end.
There are toilets and a changing area at the Te Kopahou Visitor Centre near the car park.
Te Kopahou – Entrance to Red Rocks
The slopes and have been reshaped to make them look more natural and have been planted with some of the areas rare and unique species. For more information on the revegetation click on the link below.
https://wellington.govt.nz/recreation/enjoy-the-outdoors/beaches-and-coast/southern-suburbs/te-kopahou-entrance-to-red-rocks
Taputeranga Marine Reserve Taputeranga Marine Reserve is only 6 km from Wellington’s city centre. It's very accessible and offers snorkelling, diving and walking opportunities. For more information click on the link below.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/taputeranga-marine-reserve/
Oh I’d edit the text on your cover photo, so you can better read it
Great blog Trish, makes me want to walk to red rocks...on a fine day with road spikes.
Nice one Trish. This will be really helpful for the walking folk as there is not always a lot of info out there
What an awesome description of this walk Trish, well done! I think it's a great idea to add those links too. Look forward to reading of your next adventure.
Looks great, what an interesting walk