Waikanae – Peka Peka

On 24 October, we went for yet another ride on the Kapiti Coast. This time we parked at Waikanae, near the Waimanu Lagoons, and biked to Peka Peka. We biked down Rutherford Drive and Paetawa Road – the way we used to go, before the Expressway was built with its handy cycle track.

Nothing very new to write about there, but we took some nice photos on the way back. We went back on the Expressway track, but diverted off it at the Waikanae River Bridge. We rode down to the northern bank of the river.

The Expressway Waikanae Bridge and the track down to the river (photo by John)

The track led under the bridge and we found that the pillars had interesting Māori designs on them. These designs were developed in collaboration with the local iwi, Te Atiawa.

Under the bridge (photo by John)

The pillars feature Māori designs, developed by the local iwi, Te Atiawa (photo by John)

We made our way along the river track to the estuary, and the Waimanu Lagoons. These lagoons are a great habitat for a lot of birdlife, and as we biked around the lagoons, we spotted nesting cormorant (shags) in one of the big trees, and a gaggle of fluffy yellow goslings.

The track along the estuary (photo by John)

A gaggle of goslings (photo by John)

Nesting cormorants

We only did 22 km that day, but it had been lovely to be out in the sunshine.