Tawa to Gear Homestead

On Sunday 20 March, we went for a gentle ride to investigate whether the Kenepuru to Porirua section of Te Ara Tawa was open for use yet. I was still coming right from what was ailing me the previous week, so didn’t want to do anthing too energetic. But I figured I could “cope” with lunch at the Gear Homestead Café!

We parked at the Takapu Road station carpark, which is the beginning of Te Ara Tawa, and pedalled off towards Kenepuru. We were disappointed to find the path along the railway line to Porirua still blocked. (PS - We went there again a week later, on Easter Sunday, but still no luck. Celia Wade-Brown, Wellington mayor, stated on Facebook that it will be officially opened at 3pm on 7 April.)

At Kenepuru, the new track to Porirua was still fenced off (photo by John)

Tawa to Hongoeka Bay

Last Sunday, we set out with a plan to bike from Tawa to Mana, have lunch and bike back. We ended up going quite a bit further, covering a total of 41.5 km.

We started out from Tawa’s Takapu Road Station carpark, riding on Te Ara Tawa, the very nice walking and cycling path that runs along the railway line, through quiet suburban streets, and then along the Porirua Stream as far as Kenepuru station.

On a Sunday, there was plenty of parking at the Takapu Road station carpark (photo by John)

Tawa to Mana

Last Saturday we took the e-bikes for a ride from Tawa to Mana, via Porirua and Aotea. We started our ride at Takapu Road train station, and followed Te Ara Tawa. There was a brisk northerly wind, so I was rather glad we had taken the e-bikes. Stupidly though, I didn’t use my gears properly, so despite the e-assist level set at 2, I found the going a bit sluggish. It wasn’t until we were past Porirua that I ‘twigged’ that I should be using a lower gear. Duh!

The nice smooth track of Ara Tawa ends at the Kenepuru station, and then there is a choice of either riding on the main road through Kenepuru, or continuing on the rough gravel track alongside the railway line. We took the gravel track and I hated it. It was very rough, and hard on my hands.

When we got to Porirua, we continued on a concrete path on the right hand side of the Porirua Stream, which we thought would take us to the bridge over the motorway. But instead we ended up going over a lovely little swing bridge, which ended up nowhere – the path beyond it petered out to a grassy track that was not bikeable.

A nice little bridge, but it led to nowhere!

So we turned back down the concrete path till it went under a road bridge, and from there we were able to get to the track on the other side of the stream. A bit further on was the bridge over the motorway, leading to the new suburb of Aotea.

We had to go under and then over this bridge, to get to the next bridge in the distance (photo by John)

Now that the Aotea subdivision has taken off, the path to get there from Porirua is much improved since we rode there the very first time, over a year ago. It is now wide and sealed, with a thin layer of smooth gravel. Much nicer.

The path between Porirua and Aotea, looking towards Porirua (photo by John)

Up to Aotea, past the Aotea Lagoon, and along Papakowhai Road. We crossed over the motorway and the railway line by climbing up over the overbridge which ended us up by the Paremata Station. From there we ducked under the railway line through the underpass to get to the Paremata Bridge. It sounds rather involved when it's written down, but it was simpler than having to negotiate the road crossings at the Paremata Roundabout.

Whizzing to the top by using the throttle of the e-bike was very satisfying! (photo by John)

Once across the Paremata Bridge, we pedalled along to Café Ruby in Mana for coffee and a scone. The return trip was straightforward. We didn’t use the rough track along the railway line, but rode on the road between Porirua and Kenepuru, before getting back onto Ara Tawa. We rode 27 km.

Four short rides

I have a bit of catching up to do with these blogs, I’m six rides behind. Here are details of four of them.

After we came back from our biking holiday in the South Island, we didn’t go for any bike rides for nearly two weeks because the weather was awful. But on Saturday 26 April, it was fine enough to get out. I was still feeling quite physically tired, so I didn’t feel like anything too strenuous.


Petone Foreshore to Point Howard

We decided on the Petone Foreshore, to the Seaview Marina and to Point Howard and back – about 10km. We’ve done this a few times now, so we only took one photo. The only exciting thing that happened was that John got a flat tyre at the end of the foreshore.

Would you believe it? We rode 300 km on gravel tracks in the South Island without a hitch, no flat tyres or any other mishaps. And now, here we were, riding on a perfectly smooth sealed foot/cycle path, and bingo! he gets a flat! The culprit was a small aluminium off-cut with very sharp corners. I actually heard the bit of metal land with a ringing sound after he had hit it, and I thought something had fallen off John's bike. We stopped, and the next thing we knew, his back tyre was flat! Bummer. Luckily it happened right near the Hikoikoi Park, so John was able to kneel on grass rather than concrete to fix the tyre.

Fixing a flat tyre in Petone

Plimmerton to Pauatahanui

It was another couple of weeks before we did another bike ride, to Pauatahanui this time. We parked at Plimmerton, and rode along Te Ara Harakeke to Paremata, and from there onto the Camborne Walkway.

After the walkway, you have to ride on the road for some distance until you get to Motukaraka, and then onto Te Ara Piko. This lovely track, which meanders around the wetlands of the ecologically significant Pauatahanui Inlet, is a Plimmerton Rotary project. There are plans for a safe walking and cycling track to eventually go right round the Inlet. However I think it will be a few years yet before it is all completed.

On this ride, we found that the bridge at the end of the boardwalk was just about finished – there was still someone putting the final touches to the railing, but we were able to ride across it. And a nice wide path continued along the edge of the road as far as the Pauatahanui Village – not completely protected from traffic, but much better than it was before.

Near the village we met an elderly gentleman riding his electric bike. We stopped for a chat. He was very keen to tell us his life story: he was in his 80s, was Dutch and had been in NZ for 55 years. He loved his electric bike as it allowed him to still cycle despite his age-related limitations.

Ruud with his electric bike (photo by John)

We carried on towards the village, and stopped for coffee and a scone at the Ground Up Café. On the way back John took some photos of the newly completed cycle path and bridge.

The wide cycle path makes cycling along this stretch of road safer (photo by John)

The newly completed bridge at Ration Point (photo by John)

A view across the wetlands, with a bird-watching hide at centre left (click to enlarge)
 (photo by John)

I liked all the textures of the hills, the toetoe and the grasses in the foreground

Hutt River Trail – Silverstream to Upper Hutt
Another week and a bit went by with unkind weather – gale force nor’westers and rain. But on Saturday 17 May, we had a fine, reasonably mild day, and we were able to go cycling again.

We rode the Hutt River Trail, from Silverstream to Upper Hutt and back – 22 km. Again, because we’ve done this track quite a few times now, we didn’t take too many photos. But with the high level of the river after the rains, and the low angle of the sun, the glistening river was very attractive.

The rapids in the bend of the Hutt River near Maoribank (photo by John)

We rode as far as Harcourt Park. We had hoped we would find a café nearby, but no such luck. So we just turned around and went back.

Autumn colours in Harcourt Park

Hutt River meanders (photo by John)

Ara Tawa

On Tuesday 27 May, we went for just a little ride on the Tawa Valley Pathway, Ara Tawa. I had read in the local suburban paper that the bridge across the Porirua Stream at Willowbank Park had been completed, so we went to check it out.

The pathway runs from Willowbank Park, along the railway line through Tawa, then through the Grasslees Reserve, down some Linden streets and eventually along the Porirua Stream, to end up at the Kenepuru Railway Station. I believe there are plans to continue the path all the way to Porirua eventually, but for now, the smooth concrete path becomes a dirt track beyond Kenepuru.

It was not a very exciting ride, only 9 km, but that was OK, as I had done a vigorous cardio class at the gym earlier in the day, so an easy ride was fine by me. We took no photos at all.

Milestone – 1,000 kms since March!

Last Tuesday I reached a milestone. I have biked 1,000 kms (yes, one thousand), since I started biking on 12 March this year. That’s 46 rides in 39 weeks. I’m feeling quite chuffed!

When we got back from our Hawke’s Bay holiday, my total mileage was 995 kms. So on Tuesday we went for a short ride, just so we could make it a round 1,000 kms.

We went to check out progress on the Tawa to Porirua track, “Ara Tawa”. We last cycled this combined walking and cycling path in August. At that time we were able to ride from Redwood Station to the Linden Park sports ground, as the track was still a work in progress. Eventually, it will run from Willowbank Park, by the motorway entrance to Tawa, to Kennepuru Railway Station.

This time, we again parked at Redwood Station, and rode towards Willowbank Park. Most of this end of the track is complete, but it stops short of where there will eventually be a bridge across the Porirua Stream into the park.

Ara Tawa, heading towards Willowbank Park (photo by John)

Turning around, we then rode to the other end of the track. It went beyond the Linden Park sports ground, where there is now a bridge, and the path continues for about another kilometer, before becoming a rutted dirt track.

Just before the bridge John said “That's five kilometres, this is where you have reached your 1,000 kms! Congratulations!”. And of course that had to be immortalised in a photo.

1,000 kms! Ten fingers for ten centuries (photo by John)

The area beyond the bridge is not very inspiring, as it runs between the railway line and the stream, with the unattractive backs of light industrial buildings on the other side of the stream. But the track is smooth and wide, the bridge is very nice and the view of the stream is pretty.

The new bridge, by the Linden Park sports ground (photo by John)

The Porirua Stream, viewed from the Linden bridge

It was just a 10 km ride, and we could have gone on to ride in Plimmerton, but it was quite windy, and John was keen to take me to the Johnsonville Bike Shop to get me a present to celebrate my milestone. Isn't he a sweetie! I got some new cycling gloves, as the ones I had, while very good, were just a bit too small for me, and were hard to take off.

Tawa and Plimmerton

It is amazing how many really good days we’ve had this winter. When we started on this cycling craze of ours, we thought that we might not be able to do many rides because of winter weather. But that has not eventuated.

We lucky Wellingtonians had another lovely day yesterday. Actually, I woke up with a raging throat and a cough that seemed to be coming from depths that I didn’t know I had. I chickened out of going to the gym, but the day was too nice to sit around inside and mope. So we went for a little easy-peasy ride. In fact we ended up doing two easy-peasy rides.

We discovered recently that a new track had been created in Tawa. It is part of a new shared walkway and cycle route, that will eventually go from Tawa to Porirua. So far only the section between Redwood Station and Linden Park has been completed. It is only about 4kms long, and I thought it would do me nicely, since I was feeling a bit under the weather.

We parked at Redwood station, and first we explored going south, to see how far we could go. Not very far, actually, as there is work going on to extend the track as far as Willowbank Park, near the entrance to Tawa from SH1.

The Tawa Track, looking south from Redwood Station (photo by John)

There is a bit of road that goes past a badminton hall, and it's obvious that work is going on to prepare the track. We turned around when the way was blocked by a council truck. We will have to come back when all the work is completed.

Signs of activity on the track (photo by John)

So off we went in a northerly direction. The track follows the eastern side of the railway line until Tawa Station, then it goes up onto Duncan Street, where the footpath has been widened to accommodate cyclists.

At first, the track runs along the railway line

Along Duncan Street, the footpath has been widened (photo by John)

Near Tawa College the track crosses the railway line. A nice safe crossing, with warnings to watch for trains. We found out on our way back that a barrier swings across the path when a train comes along.

Grasslees Reserve (photo by John)

The Porirua Stream, seen from the bridge by the Tawa Pool

Past the Tawa Pool and the Grasslees Reserve, and then through suburban streets until we arrived at the Linden Park sportsground, where the track ran out. Here we turned around, and returned to the car. We had done 8.5kms.

By this time, with the sun on our backs, I was feeling OK. Eight-and-a-half kilometres didn’t seem like a long enough ride, so we decided to do the Plimmerton-Karehana Bay waterfront as well. But first we wanted lunch.

We stopped at “Ruby’s” – a nice café with a sunny courtyard in Paremata that I had recently been introduced to by a friend – and had a very satisfying lunch (always nice to have a good lunch out, it means I don’t have to cook at night – cooking is not my favourite activity, it’s such drudgery…).

Off to Plimmerton, where we parked on Steyne Ave. The tide was out, and John took some nice photos of Plimmerton Beach, Mana Island and the South Island in the distance.

The beach at Plimmerton has a shallow tidal platform (photo by John)

The ride along Moana Road is always a pleasant one, and more of the rocks were exposed than the last time we cycled here.

The rocks at Karehana Bay, with Mana Island in the background, and the South Island in the distance (photo by John)

This time we rode on towards the Hongoeka Marae. I had been told that the sign saying “No access - Private Road” applied to cars only, and that walkers and cyclists were OK. Although the road continued on beyond the Marae, it became a gravel surface, and it was in the shade of the hill, so we called it a day there. It is actually possible to walk around the point to Pukerua Bay (tide permitting, I believe), but I’m not terribly likely to want to do that.

The track goes around the point to end up at Pukerua Bay – eventually (photo by John)

Mana Island, and the South Island in the distance (photo by John)

A palisade on Hongoeka Marae land

Despite feeling a bit “off” in the morning, going for a ride felt good. Now, as I am writing this up, my cough is again playing havoc with my chest and throat, but I daresay, I will survive.