Polhill reserve

5th Sep 2015

The beauty of Wellington is, the city is so close to nature. The city is built on the mountains and still retains its natural beauty. There are plenty of bush walks, city walks, bay walks close to city and easily accessible by walk or public transport.

In the first few weeks, I made an attempt to walk with meetup groups which are more active than in Auckland. However, on this walk to Polhill reserve, I happened to go by myself on a Saturday morning. The start of the trail was just about 850 mts from where I live.

It was about 1030 when I started walking. The initial stretch was inside a bush. There were more bikers than hikers. After reaching the top of Polhill, I took a detour to visit Brooklyn war memorial. The view of the city from here was beautiful.

From here, I followed the signs towards Wind turbine. The climb to the wind turbine was quite steep. A lookout point, on the way, facing the ocean was an open ground with few old gun emplacement blocks filled with graffiti. I spent some time sitting there before heading to wind turbines. The wind was quite strong but the view made me stay little longer battling the wind.

Photo credits: Google Images

The wind turbine wasn’t too far from here. There were hardly anyone when I reached the top. This wind turbine was established in 1990s as a research project. It is a landmark today and visited by several hundreds every day.

I stopped for lunch before heading back. There are many other tracks which goes further towards bay. I walked back to the lookout point. The Wellington airport was at a visible distance from here, with flights landing and taking off every 10 minutes. I sat there following the cruises sailing towards the Wellington harbor from South Island. I can’t wait to make a trip on this cruise to the South Island. Though the wind started gusting by now, I dint want to move from there. The view was worth all the cold breeze on your skin.

I headed back into the Mitchell town on my way back, to once again see those beautiful houses facing the view. The houses adds an aesthetic value to this town. The houses are so easily accessible and yet so secluded. A dream place for loners. It’s surprising to see such wonderful town so close to city. And that is why I say, Wellington is such an amazing place and is so different from Auckland.

I took an alternate route inside the bush which was for pro bikers. The path was extremely steep. I wonder how bikers manage to ride through while I struggled even to walk at few sections.

I was back home by noon. My first walk in Welly was so satisfying!