April 02 Newsletter

Churton Park Community Walkers

Newsletter 02 April 2023

This is the last Convenor’s report from me with the job being handed on to Brian Vincent, one of the original walkers and still going strong.

Friday Night “Drinkies”

Some of you will have worked out that this coming Friday is Good Friday. We thought that having our “drinkies” this Friday may not be appropriate and the Sprig and Fern may not be open, so instead we will have the Friday “Drinkies” on this coming Thursday (6^th April 2023) unless you get an email telling you otherwise.

Last Weeks Walks

Last Weeks Walks: The weather did not play its part on Wednesday so all walks were cancelled. Was Thursday any better? No; so the Thursday Night Explorers all stayed home. However the weather was better on Friday and some 14 Friday Walkers headed over to Baring Head.

This Weeks Walks (Wednesday 5 April)

All this Wednesday’s walk start in the Petone / Gracefield area. Again the parking is limited and so again this week we have all three groups parking in different areas but not too far apart.

PP’s: A 5.10km flat loop that we have used before that follows the stream around the western side of the Shandon Golf Course and then back again along the stop bank through the golf course. There is good footing for the whole length of this walk. You can see the walk here.

Parking for PP’s

Parking is at the eastern end of Marine Parade that is accessed using Kirkcaldy Street which is a off Waione Street (an extension of The Esplanade). There is a turning bay for this turn but an alternative is to drive to the round about and return back to Kirkcaldy Street which would then be an easy left turn.

SS’s: A 6.69km there and back walk with Wainui Hill to be conquered but just in case some of the walkers would like a bit more distance we have included some of the nearby industrial streets. However walkers can by choice take the shorter option and head straight back to their vehicles once they have completed the up and down. You can see the walk here.

We have also included a further 5.66km option that would require some organisation by walkers once they arrived at the parking. Thus this second walk is also shown for the SS’s that would have the walkers going down the reasonable quality path to Pt Howard after conquering the hill. This would need some of the walkers carrying out the up and down walk to go and pick up these walkers from Pt Howard or any other selected point. (A bit of Mobile Phone Communication should make this work.). You can see this alternative walk here.

Parking for SS’s

The parking for the SS’s is to be in Tunnel Grove which is a Cul de Sac off Gracefield Road. A check on Thursday suggest that there is more than ample parking for all the SS’s walkers.

FF’s: A 7.94km loop up Wainui Hill and then the walking track down to Pt Howard and then back to the cars. You can see the walk here.

Parking for FF’s

Parking is at the south-east end of Port Road.

Parking

As above.

Coffee

Coffee is anywhere you want to arrange with other walkers before your journey back to Churton Park. Main choice is Columbus Coffee in Mitre 10 Mega, Petone. There is also Compass in Port Road or back to Simmer. We have not booked.

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 April 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 the rest of April here.

Photos

Below are some photos from last week and earlier. 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).