January 29 Newsletter

Churton Park Community Walkers

Newsletter 29 January 2023

Friday Night “Drinkies”

We are starting our Friday night “Drinkies” again for the 2023 year. These are held on the 1st Friday of the Month, this so happens to be this coming Friday 3rd February 2023. These are at the usual time (5:00pm) and at the usual place (Sprig and Fern, Tawa).

Last Weeks Walks

Island Bay was the scene for last weeks walks. I have not heard any reports about traffic problems. The numbers for the walks were as follows. 20 PP’s, 22 SS’s and 14 FF’s making a total of 56 walkers taking part. The Thursday Night Explorers had 7 walkers touring the Churton Park Streets and on Friday a total of 21 Friday Walkers headed to Paraparaumu for a flat walk for a change. This included a little picnic!

This Weeks Walks

The schedule lists the walks as being at Battle Hill and we are sticking with that. The walks are on tracks within the Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, a 500 hectare farm of rolling hills administered by Greater Wellington Regional Council. The area has a little bit of history relating to a clash between Ngati Toa and British Troops in 1846. The three walks are as follows:

PP’s: A 3.79km loop track that does not include any steep hills. You can see the walk here.

SS’s: A 4.70km loop which includes a couple of hills. All on farm tracks. Y You can see the walk here.

FF’s: A 6.62km loop on farm tracks and definitely includes a few reasonably steep hills. You can see the walk here.

Parking

There is plenty of parking within the public carpark within the farm. Battle Hill Farm is about 5.6km up Paekakariki Hill Road which starts at Pauatahanui. The entrance is signposted.

Coffee

It is proposed to have a picnic under the trees. If the weather is not really that suitable for a picnic, then Groundup in Pauatahanui is on the way home, or otherwise back to Simmer or straight home. Groundup does not take bookings but usually copes with our numbers. So if you are going to take part in the picnic please bring a thermos and a snack and a chair and or a rug.

Website

When you open the website to view your walk have a quick look at the “Home Page”. This usually has a new picture each week generally showing a view from one of our walks.

Cancellation

If the walks are cancelled an email will be sent out as early as possible but definitely before 8:00am.

Happy January Walking
Russell Paterson

Koha

Every week we leave a note about Koha in the newsletter. We have no idea what private sharing arrangements are in place regarding getting rides but we trust that those who don’t regularly bring cars do make up for it in some small way, be it buying a coffee for the driver or by making some small cash donation.

Walk Schedules

You can look at the walk schedule for February here.

Photos

Below are some photos from the week before last. Walkers please try and take a photo of each group on walking days and email them to peter@jville.kiwi preferably small size (around 450kb).