Paekakariki to Peka Peka – again …

Another sunny day, another ride on the Kapiti Coast. On Tuesday 10 October, we again took ourselves to Paekakariki for a ride to Peka Peka. It is one of our favourite rides, when we want to do a good long one. As per usual, we rode on Te Ara O Whareroa towards the Kapiti Expressway track.

Finally, spring is springing out all over. The hills are green, and the woody dead-looking shrubs of winter are now clothed in green, a few trees with white flowers that I do not know the name of line the track, and the broom has started to flower. And to my relief, the first of the lupins are flowering too. During the winter, I had thought that the council had eradicated all the lupins. They did clear a lot of shrubbery, and put in new plantings of natives, but luckily they have left some lupins, which will be showing off their golden glory in the next few weeks.

The hills are green … (photo by John)

… and trees with white flowers and yellow broom line the track (photo by John)

Early flowering lupins

As we were riding up the Kapiti Expressway track, I noticed that the many wetlands seemed to have less water in them than the last time we were here. It surprised me as we had had heavy rain not too many days before, and it had not been particularly hot.

Somewhere between Mazengarb and Otaihanga Roads, we saw a pair of huge yellow gantries and a couple of large cranes on the other side of the Expressway. We couldn’t figure out what they were about. But when we returned that way after lunch, one of the cranes was gone.

We wondered what these gantries and cranes were for (photo by John)

There is a piece of land with a small lake or wetland before the Waikanae River bridge, that I think is particularly appealing. I believe this is part of the land that Patricia Grace’s whānau refused to give up for the Expressway – and who can blame them …

A particularly pleasing piece of land (photo by John)

Just before we got to Peka Peka, where we were heading for lunch, John suddenly stopped and said “I’ve reached my 6,000 km milestone!” So of course I had to record that moment. He’s about 500 km ahead of me, because not long after that I reached 5,500 km on my odometer.

John’s 6,000 km milestone

On the way back after lunch, I spotted some goats in the paddock just next to the track. I had not seen these here before. They were not particularly worried when I stopped to take a photo.

Goats enjoying the sun beside the track

Lots of these yellow daisies grew alongside the track

When we got back to our car, we had biked 51 km. Just then, I received a text from my sister inviting us to come and look at her mosaic work in progress, so we dropped by on our way home.

She has a concrete wall next to her pottery workshop which she decided to decorate with pieces of her own pots – “seconds” that she had deliberately broken up for the purpose. We were most impressed and we look forward to seeing the final result.

My sister’s mosaic wall (photo by John)

Paekakariki, Peka Peka, Waikanae River

On Tuesday 12 September we had a lovely day, biking 55 km on the Kapiti Coast. We started out from Paekakariki, having had coffee and a scone at the local café – of course. We rode up Te Ara o Whareroa, as we have done a number of times now. Along the way I stopped to take a photo of the scenery – I thought the gorgeous hills, the line of the fence, the blue sky and the cabbage tree would make a pretty shot. Then John came back to see what I was up to, and having him in the shot just completed the picture.

Te Ara o Whareroa on a perfect day

We biked on the Expressway cycle track, all the way to Peka Peka, where we had lunch at Harrisons Garden Centre Café. 

Coming up to the Makarini Street overbridge (photo by John)

Just before the Waikanae River Bridge (photo by John)

Waiting for our lunch at Harrisons (photo by John)

On the way back I stopped to take a photo of a crew of gardeners putting in more plants alongside the track. I had noticed earlier that crates of plants had been placed at intervals along the track, ready for planting. Spring time means planting time!

Lots of new plants are being put in

I like the starkness of the still bare trees against the blue sky (photo by John)

When we got back to the Waikanae River Bridge, we took the track down to the river, and rode along to the Otaihanga Domain.

Near the mouth of the Waikanae River, with Kapiti Island in the distance (photo by John)

We took the Estuary track, which meanders through the wetlands – sometimes on gravel and sometimes on boardwalks over water. John had to get off and walk several times on the boardwalks, as they are too narrow for his balance.

Taking a breather at the end of the Estuary Track

From Paraparaumu, we took the track that runs along the back of the airport, and along the way we stopped to say hello to a horse which came to the fence, apparently expecting some treat. He banged his front hoof on the bottom rung of the gate, as if to say “well, where is my treat?”.

The track along the back of the airport (photo by John)

“Where’s my treat?” (photo by John)

The last 10 km back to Paekakariki were a bit of a slog, as I was getting quite tired. I have to confess that I cranked the assist up to level 4 every so often to keep up with John. I felt pretty bushed by the time we got home. Still, it had been a very nice ride – all 55 km of it!

Paekakariki to Kiwi Road

Gosh, two whole months without writing up any blog posts. It doesn’t mean that we have not been biking, but the weather has been “trying” quite a lot of the time. I can’t wait for summer – I hope we do get one this year!

I have a few posts to write up. So here goes.

On Saturday 5 August, it was a beautiful day – bright and sunny, but cold. We opted to go to Paekakariki, which is becoming a favourite ride, not least because the weather there is often a bit better than in Wellington. After coffee at the Perching Parrot Café, we set off along the Paekakariki foreshore. The sparkling waves and Kapiti Island beyond were looking stunning.

The Perching Parrot Café in Paekakariki (photo by John) 

Kapiti Island from Paekakarirki Beach (photo by John)

We biked to Raumati on the lovely Te Ara o Whareroa track through the Paekakariki sand dunes. About half-way along we like to stop to look at a valley with several small lakes or wetlands. Sometimes sheep dot the hills, but today all we could see was a pukeko picking its way along the edge of the water. 

Wetlands on Whareroa Farm (photo by John)

A lonely pukeko at the water’s edge (photo by John)

At the end of Te Ara o Whareroa, we headed towards the track alongside the Kapiti Expressway. We didn’t go very far though, as the cold air was affecting John’s (non-closing) eye, even though it was not windy. So before Paraparaumu, we took a side track towards Kiwi Road. There are quite extensive new wetlands here, created as a result of the new Expressway. Gradually, the wetlands are becoming populated with waterfowl. There are a few seats overlooking the wetlands, and we made a brief chocolate and photo stop.

A stop by the Kiwi Road wetlands (photo by John)

A perfect reflection of a pied stilt (photo by John)

On the way back to Paekakariki, we took a little detour to the Kapiti Aeromodellers Club, near McKay’s Crossing. We stopped there once before – John loves to have a close look at the model planes.

A beautiful model plane on its prepping table (photo by John)

Oh dear, looks like this one came to grief … (photo by John)

The vehicles were equipped with all manner of special fixtures for transporting the planes
(photo by John)

We didn’t cover a huge distance on this ride – about 20 km – but it was great to be out in the sunshine even though it was cold.

Paekakariki to Paraparaumu, and Kapiti Aeromodellers Club

I’m a few blogs behind. I’ll catch up in the next day or so.

Thursday 16 March was a glorious day, fine and calm, so we drove up to Paekakariki for another ride on Te Ara o Whareroa and on part of Te Ara Kapiti (the track next to the new Kapiti Expressway).

Getting the bikes ready (photo by John)

An idyllic scene from Paekakariki’s waterfront (photo by John)

Though there wasn’t much wind, John had to attend to his eye, which must be protected from airflows to stop it drying out.

John had to stop to attend to his eye

Much of the time, the cycle track runs parallel to the Kapiti Expressway, but some distance removed from it. However, there are several bridges on the Expressway where the cycle track runs right next to it. I noticed signs before these bridges saying that horses were not allowed “beyond this point”, and I wondered why that was. Then I figured that because you are so close to traffic rushing past, a horse could easily be spooked by a passing truck, which could result in a pretty nasty accident.

Most of the time the cycle track is well away from the Expressway … (photo by John)

… but on the bridges, it runs right next to the rushing traffic (photo by John)

At the bridge over the Wharemauku Stream, we diverted from the Expressway and headed on the track towards Paraparaumu Beach.

The bridge over the Wharemauku Stream – looking towards Coastlands shopping centre
 (photo by John)

The track goes past the back of the airport, and just before getting to the beach it becomes a quite unpleasant, bumpy and narrow rut through a paddock. I don’t enjoy this bit, but fortunately it is not very long.

The track runs past the back of the airport … (photo by John)

… and then becomes a narrow rut as it goes through a paddock (photo by John)

We made our way safely to Paraparaumu Beach, where we had lunch at the 180 Degrees Café. On our way back, we stopped near the beach for a few photos.

Kapiti Island (photo by John)

The tide was in (photo by John)

Back on Te Ara Kapiti, we diverted temporarily to follow a sign pointing to Kiwi Road. Here the track went around a substantial area of wetland, and we saw that lots of waterfowl had already made it their home. We saw geese, ducks, paradise ducks, pukeko and stilts.

The track around the wetland at Kiwi Road (photo by John)

Some of the birdlife in this wetland (photo by John)
Click to enlarge

Thoughtfully provided seating ovelooks the wetland (photo by John)

In Queen Elizabeth II Park, we turned off the cycle track towards the beach. John wandered off to take some photos, while I sat on a bench and chatted to a campervan owner who had come from Upper Hutt, just to sit in the sun and enjoy the day.

The Whareroa Stream exit to the beach (photo by John)

We heard the sound of small planes buzzing overhead, so we went to have a look at the Kapiti Aeromodellers Club, which has its clubrooms and airfield nearby. We parked our bikes by the entrance, and asked one of the men if it was OK for us to come and have a look. “Yes sure”, was the answer. There was a lot of activity going on. There were more than a dozen vans and cars with large trailers, and a lot of men – mostly older, probably retired, since it was a weekday – assembling or tweaking their planes, and indulging in their hobby.

Kapiti Aeromodellers enjoying their passion on a fine calm day (photo by John)

I was amazed at the size of some of the planes – large enough and realistic enough to have a figure in the pilot’s seat. We chatted to some of the men there, and watched as people took turns in using the runway to fly their planes. One of them explained that when there is more than one plane in the air, each plane has to have two people – one piloting (i.e. working the radio controls), and the other spotting (i.e. keeping a watch that it is not on a collision course with another plane).

A Piper Pawnee (one-third scale) is readied to tow a glider (photo by John)

Getting the tow-plane and glider ready to fly. Two pilots: one for the tow-plane, the other for the glider.
(photo by John)

John was loving all this

John revelled in all this, and it brought back a few memories for him. His father was an aircraft engineer, working at one stage at Paraparaumu Airport. He remembers as a young boy being allowed to go with Dad to “put the planes to bed” when they had to be tethered to ground cables to stop them being blown about by the wind. He tells of how he sat in the co-pilot’s seat, while his Dad fired up the engines to taxi the DC3 or Lodestar to its tethering point. Once tethered, he would help his Dad to put newspapers over the wires “for the plane’s bedtime reading” (actually to stop anyone tripping over the wires).

A collection of war planes under a camouflage canopy (photo by John)

Before a plane can be launched, it is positioned behind two posts while the engine is started up. Then it is carefully manoeuvred and backed up by hand before being directed towards the runway by radio control. 

This model is a Rumpler Taube dating from 1909  (photo by John)

We spent nearly an hour at the Aeromodellers Club, before heading back to Paekakariki. A quick stop for a photo of a newly installed seat overlooking Te Ara o Whareroa, but we didn’t linger. It had been a good ride (34 km), nicely side-tracked to do some mini plane spotting.

A new and very sturdy-looking seat overlooking the track (photo by John)

Folding Goldies ride – Waikanae to Paekakariki

On Wednesday 1 February, we went on a Folding Goldies ride. Alastair billed it as “Kapiti Koastal Kruising”. In other words, we were going to ride the Kapiti Coastal Cycle Trail from Waikanae to Paekakariki. And, he said in his email, “The real summer of course starts in February”, which was a comment on the really lousy summer Wellington is having so far this year. Fine days have been few, and calm days have been even rarer. The eternal and infernal wind is driving everyone batty.

This day too, the forecast was fairly grim – overcast, possible rain, and galeforce northwesterlies. One of the group emailed early in the day “Not going, too windy”. Well we went anyway. It wasn’t nearly as windy up the coast, and besides, for much of the way, it was a tailwind. And the rain held off until we got home. It was a great ride, and we had a really good turn-out too, with a total of nine people.

We took the train at Takapu Road as usual, and we had to be in another carriage as there were already three bikes in the other. So it was just us until Paekakariki, when a woman with a bike boarded, saw our bikes and said “Are you Folding Goldies?”. She was Dayll, a friend of Alastair’s, and was going along too.

At Waikanae we got to meet the others – John B, Gottfried and Alastair, all of whom were Folding Goldie “oldies”. For Dayll, Steve, Nigel and Colin this was the first FG ride, but hopefully not the last. We already knew Colin, from Scottish country dancing.

Introductions over, we were ready to set off from Waikanae Station (photo by John)

John B, who is a Kapiti Coast resident, showed us a different way to get to the river track – along SH1 for a short distance until the bridge and off to the left onto a track that went under the bridge. Quite a scary (to me) steep gravelly bit before we got onto the track. Then it was just pleasant cycling, although some of the track had recently been graded, and that had left some bumpy ridges on the track.

Alastair on the track that emerges from under the road bridge (photo by John)

A couple of walkers were captured by John’s rear-mounted camera (photo by John)

From the Otaihanga Domain, some of us rode the estuary track to get to Manly Street in Paraparaumu. Others, including John, went by the road. John doesn't like the narrow and winding boardwalks. For Dayll and Gottfried, the estuary track was new territory, which they enjoyed.

At the end of the estuary track (photo by John)

We stopped at the 180 Degrees Café in Paraparaumu for coffee and scones – excellent cheese scones!

Coffee and scones (photo by John)

Ready to go back on the road (photo by John)

When we were ready to leave, I nearly lost my Gold Card. It was in my pocket, along with the key to my bike lock. It must have fallen out when I got the key to unlock my bike. Fortunately one of the others spotted in on the ground. Phew!

Nigel took this photo of John and me, and Dayll ahead of us, on the waterfront track
(photo by Nigel Roberts)

We rode on the nice waterfront track, and then we all seem to have gone different ways to Poplar Avenue and the start of Te Ara Whareroa. I followed two people down towards Raumati, then stopped to wait for John and the others, but they didn't come. They had turned inland earlier. The other two had disappeared from view, and I wasn't sure which way they'd gone. For a moment I thought I was lost, my sense of direction being quite useless. But luckily, John and I had done the same ride the previous week, and I soon recognised the route through the Kapiti College carpark, and made my way to Poplar Ave. Eventually everyone made it there.

“The obligatory group pic” as Alastair called it (photo by Alastair Smith)

Colin and Gottfried pause on Te Ara o Whareroa while Alastair digs out his camera
(photo by John)

Alastair and Nigel (photo by John)

From the end of the Whareroa track, we rode along the foreshore, and ended up at the Beach Deli for lunch. John and I shared a small pizza, which was very nice.

Lunch at the Beach Deli (photo by John)

Only six of us took the 2:15pm train back to Wellington, having lost Dayll and Steve who live in Paekakariki, and John B who returned to Paraparaumu where he lives. Colin decided to get off at Pukerua, intending to bike the rest of the way home to Titahi Bay.

Only six of us took the train back to Wellington (photo by John)

It had been a good ride – 26 km all up – and the weather held off. We got home just before the rain set in.

We were really lucky the ride had not been planned for Thursday, as we had some really heavy rain, all day, with the result that there was flooding in some areas, especially by the Hutt River.