Catch-up – May 2023

It’s over a year since I last wrote anything on this blog. 

Generally, our cycling has been much reduced in the past year or so. It has been mainly local rides – regular rides to our favourite café, Café Thyme in Johnsonville (6-8 km), and rides on the Kapiti Coast (30-50 km, both depending on route taken). Other explorations of Wellington Region tracks haven’t happened – for reasons of weather, Covid, or general health and lack of energy. 

As for trips away from Wellington, there have been just a few. 

The last trip I wrote up was our South Island holiday in November/December 2021. Since then, we have had a trip to Palmerston North, to bike the Manawatū River Shared Pathway in August 2022 and another holiday in the South Island in November/December 2022. In addition, we had a trip to Whanganui in February 2021, which I had planned to write up, but never did. 

So let’s start with the least recent – the trip to Whanganui.

Whanganui Weekend – 19-22 February 2021

Though we had planned to go to Whanganui for some biking some time, it was a last-minute decision when we did go. So on Friday 19 February, we made a late-ish start and got to Whanganui in the early afternoon, and headed straight to Paloma Gardens.

My sister had told me about these gardens – a vast property consisting of several gardens, each with its own theme and micro-climate, collections of exotic plants, sculptures, pottery, and more. It is near Fordell, some 20 km out of Whanganui, and then another three kilometres on a fairly dodgy road. It was quite difficult to find, but very much worth the effort. 

Once we found the way in – the entrance was not at all clear – we spent nearly two hours exploring the gardens.

A map of the gardens was pinned to the wall in the Tunnel House, above an honesty box for our $10 entry fees. (DP)

First, there was an area of palms of various sorts, and some amazing other plants, a small pond –no, a concrete trough – with enormous waterlilies, a tree with huge leaves and big fruit, and enormous agaves. Every so often there would displays of pottery on plinths or on the ground. 

A tree with huge leaves and large fruit … (DP)

… enormous waterlilies in a concrete trough … (DP)

… whimsical sculptures …

… and pottery on plinths

 

A shady spot to rest (DP)

There was a large glasshouse with lots of varieties of cacti and succulents. It was very hot in there so I didn't linger. Another themed area was the G.O.D. – Garden of Death – in which all the plants were poisonous. I recognised oleanders and lantana. It also had some rather lethal looking displays. 

The gate to the Garden of Death … (DP)

… and one of its deadly displays (DP)

Much more pleasant was the Wedding Garden. Down some steps and onto a long, wide, slightly sloping lawn, flanked by huge palm trees. Further to the right there was a bamboo forest – beautiful, tall, thickly planted bamboo, in shades ranging from green, through brown and yellow.

The wedding lawn, flanked by palm trees, led down to a pavilion by a lake

The bamboo forest (DP)

The pavilion and bridge (DP)

 On the hillside across from the lake was a multicoloured stairway, at the top of which were quite a lot of flowering agave, the ones with the very tall stems and sort of pompoms sticking out from them. On the slope, beautiful cacti and other interesting exotic plants. The owners of the garden are “collectors” of plants from all over the world, and all the plants seemed to thrive in this sheltered environment.

The hillside across from the lake

I love these spiral aloe (Aloe Polyphylla)! (DP)

Having spent a good two hours exploring these gardens, it was time for the long drive back to Whanganui. We stopped at Durie, to take look at the Durie Hill War Memorial tower. The view over the Wanganui River from there is gorgeous. There is an elevator that comes up from Anzac Parade at the bottom of the hill, but it was closed for 12 weeks of maintenance.

The Whanganui River, from Durie Hill

 

Durie Hill War Memorial (DP)

From our accommodation on Anzac Parade, we walked across the City Bridge into town for dinner, and were treated to a lovely sunset on the way back.

Sunset over the Whanganui River

Saturday 20 February

This was a day for cycling. We set off from our motel, rode across the City Bridge, and turned left to follow the cycle path alongside the river, all the way to “The Mole”, the end of the track where the river ends up in the sea and the beach is to the right hand side. 

Along the river

A novel use for clay roof tiles (DP)

Riverside track

At “The Mole” (DP)

The beach to the north of the river mouth

We talked a bit to a chap who was loading his surfboard back onto his ute, about the river and the poles sticking out of the breakwater. They are markers for when the river is high. 

John felt the need for a coffee, so he asked the guy if he knew of a coffee shop nearby. “Oh yes, the Citadel, Rangiora Street - awesome coffee”, and he gave us full instructions about how to get there. We duly pedalled along the roads in the suburb called Castlecliffs, and found it. Very nice it was too. 

The Citadel Café (DP)

Another couple turned up at the next table, with bike helmets, so we had a chat about bikes (she had an e-folder too), and they were able to give us some good information about the riverside track to Upokongaro. 

We biked around the suburb for a bit, then headed back to town, and continued on the track upriver. We biked along the dedicated track along the Somme Parade, as far as the Rail Bridge. It was very pleasant, with quite a lot of trees shading us from the hot sun. Then we crossed the river (on a pedestrian/cycle path on the bridge), rode back along that side of the river till the next bridge down, across and back to the city centre. And finally, back across the City Bridge and back to the motel. 

The railway bridge, with the ”Waimarie” and several crews of rowers just beyond

The coal-fired paddle steamer “Waimarie” steaming back to town after its excursion upriver (DP)

Later in the day, after John had had a snooze back at our motel, we walked into town for a look around. Unfortunately, the artisan studios I had hoped to visit were already closed, but we walked along the waterfront and took some nice photos.

“Kereru” – a sculpture by Paul Dibble

“Bearing” – a 3m high stainless steel sculpture by David McCracken. The cut-outs represent the sinuous route of the Whanganui River and its many tributary streams

 

One of the interesting murals we saw

Palm trees in Moutoa Gardens

Sunday 21 February

Today we biked up the Somme Parade, right up to the Upukongaro Bridge. It is a lovely track up as far as the Rail Bridge, which is as far as we went yesterday, but after that, we were riding on the road, with a reasonable amount of traffic going by. 

The cycle track alongside Somme Parade

Some of the time there was a bike lane, and then it would revert to the road. Most of the time it was not right by the river either. When we got to the end of the built-up area and the speed limit became 100 km/hr, the dedicated track started up again. It was new, nice and smooth, and under some trees some of the way, alongside the river. From there, It was only a few more kilometres to the Upukongaro Bridge. This lovely foot/cycle bridge had been officially opened only a few months earlier.  

The last stretch of the track before the bridge

The Upokongaro Bridge

We biked across the bridge

We biked across. John was all for turning around at this stage, but I wanted to see what the buildings across the other side of the river were, I was sure that there would be an eatery. After the bridge, the track took a loop around, so it could go under the road (the Wanganui River Road – SH 4), and ended up near a smallish settlement.

Well, of course there was not one, but at least two food places. A very nice café, called “Behind the Door at 4” (the 4 referring to the fact it is on SH4), where we stopped, and there was a bar a bit further up the road. The café was very popular, and there were lots of bikes outside it, as it is one of the stops on the “Mountains to Sea” cycle trail, which comes from Ohakune via the Bridge to Nowhere and the jet boat ride from Pipiriki. 

The café was very popular with cyclists (DP)

We had iced coffees - yum - and muffins, and sat on the front deck, in the shade. Very pleasant. When I went in search of the loo, I found that the café was quite large inside, and out the back was a lovely garden with tables and brollies, and playthings for the kids. 

Iced coffees on the veranda of “Behind the Door On 4”

There was a lovely garden at the back (DP)

Across the road from the café were a couple of life-size moa sculptures, commemorating the fact that in the 1930s, thousands of moa bones had been recovered from mud springs in the Upokongaro Valley. 

One of the concrete moa sculptures (DP)

As we were crossing the bridge to go back, the paddle steamer Waimarie was also returning to the city. I think it must do its turn-around a little upriver from here. As we cycled back to town, we kept pace with it and were there when it arrived at its landing. 

The paddle steamer “Waimarie” viewed from the bridge (DP)

The “Waimarie” arriving at its landing (DP)

We watched people coming off the steamer, and then did a little walk around the area. We watched the vintage tram rolling out of its shed and going for a ride. It is very pretty, but I think the track only goes for about 120 metres along the waterfront, and the $5 charge for the ride seems bit steep.

 

The vintage tram

 
Before going back to our motel on the other side of the river, we turned left after crossing the City Bridge, to see how far the cycle track would take us. After a kilometre or so of lovely smooth concrete track, separate from the road, it went into a park-like area, through an arboretum, and ended up at a great playground that I remember taking our kids to when they were little – after a farm holiday in Inglewood (Taranaki). Beyond that was the next bridge, and that was where we had got to yesterday, having come from the Rail Bridge further upstream. So this is where we turned around, and went back to our motel. 

We headed home the next day. It had been a lovely couple of days cycling – nothing too strenuous, considering John had not been feeling 100%. I would have liked to cycle up some of the Whanganui River Road – part of the Mountains to Sea Cycle Trail. It is an area rich in history, and the surroundings are beautiful. However, it didn’t work out this time. Maybe some other time.