Mana to Pauatahanui

On Monday 11 September, it was a fine but windy day, so we decided on a short-ish, undemanding ride (17 km). We hadn’t biked to Pauatahanui for quite a while, so we parked at the Ngati Toa Domain, in Mana, and biked along the Camborne Walkway. The track was reasonably dry, and we didn’t encounter any people with pushchairs, so I ‘survived’ the track without taking a spill – as I did the last time we were here.

On the Camborne Walkway (photo by John)

We biked to Pauatahanui and had lunch at the Ground Up Café. We are always impressed with how quickly our coffees are delivered – the barista must be listening closely to the orders being placed, and putting them into effect immediately.

John’s hotcakes were beautifully presented – and delicious too (photo by John)

After lunch we looked into the saddlery and stock feed shop next door, and got talking to the young woman at the counter. She was interested in our SmartMotion bikes, as she said she worked a couple of days a week for Daryl Neal, from whom we bought these bikes, when he used to own Wellington Electric Bikes in Upper Hutt. He had a hand in designing the SmartMotions, but now concentrates on designing and building UBCO electric farmbikes, and she works on his web design. Thinking she would be a keen cyclist, I asked her what sort of bike she rode. Her answer was “I ride a horse”!

On the way back along Motukaraka Point, I noticed a layer of shells in the cut-away bank next to the road – a midden from long ago. This area was once an important Ngati Ira settlement. While John stopped to take a photo of it, we were hailed by a chap who had been sitting near his parked car, playing his ukulele. “I know you, do you write a blog? I recognised your bikes”. He said his name was Terry Casey, and he plays in Bluegrass bands in Upper Hutt pubs. We chatted, and then he played a little tune on his mouth organ. You do meet some interesting people while biking …

There are some nice gardens at Motukaraka Point (photo by John)

A midden – this area was once an important Māori settlement (photo by John)

A chat with Terry Casey, Bluegrass musician (photo by John)

There is a new stretch of track and boardwalk across some of the wetlands, which is very much nicer to ride on than the road (which is narrow and busy wih car traffic). It is a local Rotary project, and I hope that eventually the whole stretch between Motukaraka and the Camborne Walkway will be provided with a walking/cycle track away from the road.

The boardwalk across the tidal area (photo by John)

The tide was in and the wind was quite strong, causing wavelets to slap onto the road (photo by John)

Back at the Ngati Toa Domain, we thought we would go and look at the “beach that disappeared”. In April, a whole beach alongside the Mana Marina disappeared overnight. In the aerial photo on this website,  you can see the same brown yacht as in John’s photo, and you can see how large the beach was, which is now gone.

There was once a beach here … (photo by John)

A final pretty shot of the entrance to Porirua Harbour (photo by John)

Kapiti Expressway cycle track

Last Thursday, 9 March, we had our second try at riding the cycle track alongside the new Kapiti Expressway. 

The Expressway had an open day for the general public on 18 February, and the celebrations included people being allowed to walk and cycle on a 5 km stretch of the new road between Paraparaumu and Waikanae. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go, so the following Tuesday, after biking from Paekakariki to Raumati, we wanted to try out the new cycle track that runs alongside it. But it wasn't open for use yet.

Access to the new cycle track at Raumati was still blocked off (photo by John)

We talked to one of the people still working on the completion and he said it would be opening at 3am (!) the following Friday, provided the weather didn’t throw a spanner in the works.

He told us the track would be open the following Friday (photo by John)

By diverting via a couple of Raumati roads, we managed to find a few stretches that were not blocked off, but then we met a man on a tractor, who told us we really should not be there, so we decided to come back another day.

This foot/cycle bridge over the Expressway could be reached from an access road alongside the track,
 but was still blocked off too (photo by John)

So last Thursday, we had another go at it. We drove to Raumati, parked the car in Leinster Ave, just off Poplar Avenue, and biked up to the start of the cycle track.

I was disappointed to find that the track was not completely smooth. It consisted of seal but with a fine gravel surface. We stopped to talk to a couple of surveyors, and asked whether the track was like this all the way. “Yes, and a few bits are worse” they said. I wondered why the track had not been properly sealed, and the short answer was “cost”. Of course.

Two surveyors still working on the track (photo by John)

We were now able to get onto the Rongomau Footbridge. It is an impressive black construction, with a sinuously curved ramp, designed to resemble an eel. It leads to the houses along the old SH1. The signpost pointed across the bridge to “Paraparaumu Shopping Centre”, but I wouldn’t go that way, biking along the old SH1, if I could go on the cycle track instead. However the bridge provided a great view on the Expressway.

The Rongomau Footbridge over the Expressway (photo by John)

View from the bridge looking south … (photo by John)

… and looking north (photo by John)

The track is nice and wide and in most places is a respectable distance away from the Expressway. There are lots of small areas of protected wetlands. We spotted a pukeko and a few ducks already taking possession. No doubt, in time, these areas will become home to more water-loving birds.

We were impressed with the plantings all along the road and cycle track. Plants must have been put in a year ago or more, as they seemed well established. In areas near housing, there were noise reduction walls, which were very attractive too.

One of the protected wetland areas, and a fenced-off culvert.
Note the surface of the track (photo by John)

Attractive, established planting (photo by John)

Noise reduction walls (photo by John)

Seating is provided every so often (photo by John)

I was in awe of all the planning that must have gone into the whole project – road, bridges, cycle track, plantings, wetlands ... No wonder it took three years to complete. It certainly is a beautiful result.

As we approached Paraparaumu, the Expressway went across one of the many new bridges. Here, the cycle track dips below the level of the road to its own bridge across the Wharemauku Stream. The track crosses another shared path, which leads from Coastlands shopping centre to Paraparaumu Beach, past the back of the airport.

The road bridge over the Wharemauku Stream, and the track between Coastlands and the beach

The road bridge on the far left and the foot/cycle bridge in the centre right

The Expressway bridges fly over several roads – Kapiti, Mazengarb, Otaihanga, and Te Moana Roads – while the cycle track crosses them at road level. Some of the crossings have buttons to activate cycle warnings to motorists. At the Te Moana Road traffic lights, there are even separate crossing lights, with appropriate symbols, for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

Push buttons are provided to ensure cyclists’ safety

Between Raumati and Otaihanga, the cycle track runs on the left of the Expressway heading north. At Otaihanga Road, the track goes under the Expressway, and continues on the right hand side.

The bridge over the Waikanae River must be the longest, and here the bike track runs right next to the Expressway. On quite a few occasions, we’ve watched progress during the building phases of this bridge from below, on the Waikanae River track. It was interesting to see it from the top this time.

The Waikanae River bridge (photo by John)

Looking down on the Waikanae River track. There is access to the tracks
on both sides of the river from each end of the bridge

On the bridge, we met a young woman taking photographs. We exchanged hellos, and she said that a bit further along, we would meet the Prime Minister and the local MP. They were cycling a stretch of the track as a “photo opportunity”. I asked who she worked for, thinking she was a newspaper or TV reporter, but she said she worked for the PM – “I’m the PM’s photographer”.

Sure enough, before long, we saw them coming towards us, looking – as one news report described them – “like a pair of Mormons spreading the good word” in their white shirts and ties. 

Bill English, Prime Minister, and Nathan Guy, MP for Otaki

Mr English saw me taking a photo and stopped to talk. He was interested in my e-bike, and asked how far we were going on the track, and how often we biked. He was very patient while I fiddled with my phone to take another photo of him.

Me and the PM – and presumably a bodyguard? (photo by John)

He stopped to chat – only in NZ ... (he probably just wants my vote!)

Just here the cycle track diverts from the Expressway and goes through a short stretch of Waikanae suburban street. I found out later that this circumvents an area of historic Māori land, a wāhi tapu, belonging to the whānau of the author Patricia Grace. She refused to give up her ancestral land for the Expressway, and in 2014, she won her case in the courts. 

Further along, there is a retaining wall, which is decorated with stylised Māori patterns.

The retaining wall below Patricia Grace’s land

Near the intersection with Te Moana Road, we met a cluster of media people, armed with TV cameras and microphones, waiting for Bill English to return. I watched the TV news that evening, and while he commented on lots of other matters, he did not say anything about the Expressway or the cycle track.

Between Te Moana Road and Peka Peka, the surface of the track became rougher. Hopefully this will be remedied as time goes on. Work on the track is still going on, as evidenced by a small digger we encountered along the way.

The track was a bit rough in places (photo by John)

Work on the track is still going on (photo by John)

We made our way to Peka Peka for lunch at Harrisons. The Expressway ends at Peka Peka and rejoins the old SH1. The cycle track stops here too. Although there is signage pointing to Otaki, there are apparently no plans at this stage to extend the cycle track to Otaki, even when the next section of Expressway is built – something which has the Kapiti cycling community up in arms.

Some stretches of the cycle track are also suitable for horse riders – with a strip of grass running alongside it.

The cycle track also functions as a bridle path in some places (photo by John)

Coming up to the Mazengarb Road intersection on our way back (photo by John)

We biked 34 km that day (17 km each way). After we got back to the car, we drove to Paraparaumu Beach for an icecream, but had to use the old SH1 from Raumati, as there is no on-ramp there. However, we enjoyed driving a short stretch of the new Expressway from Paraparaumu to McKay’s on the way home.

Note: Alastair Smith (of Folding Goldies fame) has also written an account (here) of the cycle track, which he refers to as Te Ara Kapiti.

 

Plimmerton to Pauatahanui

Monday 10 March was another lovely day, calm and sunny. We wanted to have another look at the Pauatahanui Inlet, but just the northern shore this time. We felt that the road on the Whitby side was just a bit too narrow and too busy with trucks for enjoyable cycling.

We parked the car in Plimmerton and cycled along the southern end of Ara Harakeke to Paremata. We crossed the Mana Esplanade at Pascoe Avenue, from where the Camborne Walkway starts.

Right at the beginning of the track, there is a sandy patch where we had to get off and walk, and there, by a park bench, was a woman setting up her easel and paints. It certainly was a gorgeous view to paint. We talked to her briefly, and said we would be interested to see her painting when we returned.

A painter was just setting up as we went by (photo by John)

The track took us behind the boatsheds, which are really quite delightful. Having enjoyed the TV programme “George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces” on how people turn tiny buildings into amazing living spaces, I would love to have a peek into some of these sheds, just to see what their owners have done with their interiors. I wonder if any of them have been inspired by that programme …

Such tiny huts – I wonder what the interiors are like?

One of the sheds had been decorated with all manner of old boating and fishing paraphernalia. There were fishing nets, fishing rods and reels, a cane lobster pot, oars and paddles, life jackets and floats, a snorkel and a pair of flippers, the skeleton of a canoe, several anchors, and even a couple of outboard motors. Quite the beachcomber’s hut.

Fishing and boating paraphernalia decorate this shed (photo by John)

At the end of the Camborne Walkway, there is a pleasant park (photo by John)

After the Camborne Walkway, we had to ride on the road for some distance, until we got to the Motukaraka Point. At the entrance to this road there is a toilet block with changing sheds and information boards about the wildlife in this area. A large group of high school students were involved in a number of activities – canoeing, something intriguing around a circle of stones on the beach, and building a raft. They seemed to be having a great time.

A school party involved in water activities

Kids building a raft

The road around Motukaraka Point led us to the Ara Piko boardwalk, which meanders along the edge of the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve’s wetlands, parallel to Grays Road. It looks like the boardwalk is being extended, or at least the shoulder of the road is being widened, as there were roadworks along the rest of the road until we got to Pauatahanui Village. Either way, it will be good for cyclists.

A bridge over one of the streams feeding into the Inlet

The road gang is either extending the boardwalk, or widening the road shoulder (photo by John)

We stopped at the village café, “Groundup”, for coffee and a scone. As we were waiting for our coffees to arrive, another cyclist pulled up – she had been cycling around the hills of Whitby, and looked pretty hot and tired. She lived in the area, and she pointed out the driveway up to the little historic church that we wanted to take a look at.

The hill on which this lovely little church stands was originally the site of a Māori fighting pā, established by Te Rangihaeata in the 1840s. After his withdrawal, the land was bought for farming by Thomas Hollis Stace, who later donated an acre to the Pauatahanui community for a chapel and burial grounds. The first chapel was built in 1857. This gradually deteriorated, and the current church, St Alban’s, was built in 1895.

Historic St Alban’s Church was built in 1895 (photo by John)

I was intrigued by the fact that this little church has “buttresses” along the side walls. I wondered whether they were a structural necessity, or merely an imitation of the great churches in “the old country”?

I found a reference to them in the Historic Places Trust register, which describes the building as "A simple Gothic Revival church, the building has lancet windows, external timber-framed buttresses and, in the interior, scissor trusses with knee braces. The apse is semi-circular in plan. In general the building is timber-framed, with rusticated weatherboards on the exterior and tongue and groove lining in the interior. It has a steeply pitch corrugated iron roof."

The little church has wooden buttresses

There are two parts to the burial grounds. One is right next to the church – fairly plain, with graves having only headstones and concrete covers. The other is a bit further down the hill and the graves are surrounded by ornate fences and little gardens. This cemetery was neglected for many years, until in 1991, a group of local women started the Pauatahanui Burial Ground Rose Project – salvaging many of the original roses and planting more heritage roses.

We had a wander around the burial ground, looking at the old grave stones and the little gardens that surround them. At this time of year, many of the rose bushes were heavy with rose hips.

One of the Heritage Roses in the Pauatahanui Burial Ground (photo by John)

Many of the graves are surrounded by ornate fences

We returned the same way as we had come, through the Wildlife Reserve. At one of the little bridges, we were surprised by a heron standing right in the middle of it. He stood absolutely still, while John got his camera ready, then he stepped up onto the edge of the bridge, and fluttered off into the stream below. But John managed to get a shot of him.

This heron was not particularly worried by us (photo by John)

We saw two other herons on this ride. One crossed the path right in front of us, when we were riding on the path along the railway line, between Plimmerton and Paremata. The other was standing quite still in a stream in the reserve. They are beautiful birds, rather elegant, and quite large.

This track is called Te Ara Piko – The Meandering Path (photo by John)

When we got back to the end of the Camborne Walkway, we met the painter again. Unfortunately we arrived just in time to see the painting being blown off the easel by a gust of wind, while she had her back turned. It landed face-down in the sand. What a pity. It looked like a lovely painting too. I hope she was able to salvage it.

The painter is wiping the sand off her work after it was blown off her easel (photo by John)

We arrived back at Paremata, where we sat on a seat looking out over the Inlet for a little while, and nibbled on some apple slices. Meanwhile, a scrummage of seagulls was happening in the carpark behind us, where a man was sitting in his car, throwing out bits of food for the seagulls (fish ‘n chips, I think). The gulls were even sitting on the car’s bonnet and wing mirror, and screeching horribly. Not my favourite kind of bird, these red-beaked gulls.

The peace of the view was marred by the noise of the seagulls behind us (photo by John)

Soon after, we rode under the Paremata Bridge, and back to Plimmerton, but instead of heading back to the car, we kept going towards Karehana Bay and Horoeka Marae – just to complete the 20kms. In fact, we ended up having biked 23 kms by the time we got back to the car.

Beyond Mana Island you can clearly see the South Island (photo by John)