Lantau Island, Hong Kong: Grand Buddha to Tung Chung

Using public transport from central Hong Kong, this hike makes a nice retreat from the hustle and bustle to Chinese temples, jungle and a fort.

I reached the start of this hike at the Po Lin Monastery by taking the MTR (metro) and a bus.

After exploring the Great Buddha and monastery for an hour or more - which may include a vegetarian meal depending on the ticket purchased - the hike begins. As it starts on a peak the hike is all downhill.

The route is fairly well signposted.

Although a lot of people follow the trail you don't feel crowded except around the monastery area.

The walk down is very pleasant passing old houses, jungle, streams, gardens, temples and occasionally providing glimpses to the sea or to the cable car.

  Once down on the flat you can wander the ramparts of the remains of the Tung Chung Fort and see some historic exhibits.

Then its just a short walk to the MTR.

Summary: A moderate hike (but a steep climb to the Buddha) that mixes nature, history and urban features, one way, a half day walk but combined with the temples and travel (which can include cable car and ferry) can be a full day's activity.

Walked: September 2017
 

Mangaweka, New Zealand: Whitecliff Boulders walk

A walk through farmland to see some 'cannon ball' concretions in a bush setting.

An enterprising farmer has opened his land to see some interesting rock formations accessed through a pretty farm walk. His website gives some additional options to the short walk mentioned here. The walks starts at the top of a plateau with great views before heading down the hill.

Take careful note of the website's directions to get to the farm as it requires wending through back roads in the pretty Rangatikei.

At 2 km a small preserved patch of native bush appears in which the boulders can be found.

There's a sign explaining the geology. After a wander around the peaceful glade its back up the farm track.

Summary: 4 km return, easy but with a hill climb, may be muddy if wet

Walked: December 2017

Sydney, Australia: Iron Cove

An easy circuit of one of the inlets in Sydney Harbour surrounded by houses but with pockets of green space and history.

I took a bus from the central city and alighted near King George Park before walking across the distinctive Steel Truss Bridge.

Navigation for the walk is simple, just follow the coast around in a circle, I went anti-clockwise. Rodd Park at Rodd Point is the half way point.

The first major point of interest immediately after the bridge is the Drummoyne Pool.

Rodd Park is an attractive small peninsula with great views and a small memorial.

On the return leg one of the more intriguing features is where parkland is interspersed with remnants of a former mental health facility, the heritaghe listed Callan Park Hospital for the Insane.

 Amongst some of the ruins on the foreshore once gets glimpses back to the bridge.

Summary: Easy walk, 7.4 km, 2 hours walk

Walked: February 2018

Queensland, Australia: Green Mountains Walk

This full day bush hike in the Lamington National Park criss-crosses various creeks with numeous waterfalls.

I stayed at O'Reilly's Guesthouse at the plateau in the centre of the National Park which was ideal for making an early start. As I was staying the following evening as well I was under no pressure to hurry the walk - given the rather hair-raising drive up the narrow winding road into the park it would be best to try to avoid a nighttime drive in either direction. An early start is advised.

The hike is through rainforest - the park being part of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforest.

Much to my delight, the Guesthouse couldn't resist the temptation to celebrate the Lamington National Park location by serving the eponymous cake. The coconut covered Lamingtons are famous in Australia and New Zealand and are named after a Governor of Queensland. Hardly good sustenance for a strenuous hike but welcome nonetheless.

The walk is panhandle shaped starting on a direct track then looping off into a circuit on several others before returning to the first track. Details of track available on the Queensland Government website.

The walk starts on the border track, and later returns on it. The border in question is between the states of Queensland and New South Wales. After a fairly easy walk you turn off to the Toolona Creek circuit after which the hiking gets harder with some steep decent (and the inevitable return climb!), some cliffs, boulder crossings and the waterfalls.

There are several pretty waterfalls.

After all the waterfalls it is a climb up to the top of what is a caldera rim with superb views.

Then it is a return via the boundary track which goes all the way back to the start.

Summary: full day, strenuous, 18.8 km

Walked: May 2018

Christchurch, New Zealand: Te Ara Ōtākaro Avon River Trail

This shared walking and biking track along the Avon/Ōtākaro River has an eerie feel that gives a unique view of a recovering post-earthquake city.

The trail traverses part of the 'Red Zone', an area of Christchurch where all the houses have been demolished and rebuilding prohibited due to the susceptibility to liquifaction by earthquake. It is something of a 'twilight zone' in that although 8 years have passed since the 2011 earthquake, final decisions about eventual use of the land have apparently not been taken. This is therefore called a 'transitional' trail pending those final decisions and parts have a makeshift feel as it mainly follows closed roads full of potholes.

I rented an e-bike for the trip and began by taking a slight detour around Hagley Park to pay my silent respects outside the Al Noor Mosque where there had been a tragic shooting three weeks earlier. The flowers piled by mourners around trees in the park were a very poignant reminder.

Details of the trail which can be walked or cycled are available at the City Council website. This includes an interactive map of all the cycleways.

The trail has interest for its riverside route and the seaside destination (a bit beyond the end of the trail) but as the day I was there was bitterly cold with heavy (though intermittent) rain I did not linger for the views and instead found the most fascinating aspect to be the closed roads and 'ghost town' nature of the area.

Although much of the trail was great riding as one had the entire road there were places I had to cycle carefully to avoid riding into deep potholes.

It was terribly sad cycling through areas that appeared at first glance to be parkland or farmland but there were many telltale signs to suggest that in the relatively recent past these had been the sites of the family homes of thousands of people. The houses, outbuildings, driveways and and gardens had al been meticulously removed without trace but the roads, footpaths and streetlights remained.

The other highlight was, of course, the river itself which the trail followed.

Summary: 11 km

Cycled: April 2019

Khao Yao National Park, Thailand: Heo Narok Waterfall Trail

During a 2 day photographic-oriented jungle trip in a national Park near Bangkok, I walked a few short trails including this one to a waterfall variously described as 60m, 100m and 150m in height: probably explained by it tumbling over several drops. Suffice to say it was spectacular.

The walk is an easy flat stroll for some distance before descending an elaborate, lengthy and steep set of staircases - which later must be ascended of course.

After the highlight of the waterfall one returns the same way.

Summary: short hike, easy (but contains steep steps), 2 km return

Walked June 2018

Honolulu, USA: Diamond Head trail

This trail climbs up to the peak that famously features in a backdrop to several Hawaii-based TV shows and provides magnificent views over Honolulu.

I took a bus to near the Diamond Head State Monument and walked up to the park through a tunnel that pierces the crater rim to get to the start of the trail. Not much space allowed for pedestrians! An alternative to the city bus that avoids adding a couple of kilometers to the walk is the the 'trolley' shuttle that brings tourists up from Waikiki.

A signboard provides a good diagram of the trail that combines navigation with the construction and military history of the trail. Signs along the route go into more detail as does the State Parks website.

Part way up (or down) one gets a good view of a volcanic crater.

There is a lot of climbing some of it on steep stairways associated with the military observation post. Also several tunnels.

One eventually is rewarded with great views.

The trail returns after a loop at the top to where it began.

Summary: About 3km, moderate to strenuous, allow 2 hours

Walked: November 2018

Auckland, New Zealand: Monte Cecilia Path

Too short to be reckoned a hike this is nonetheless a short walk that delights for its beautiful setting, magnificent trees, history and art.

Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough, generally known locally simply as 'The Pah', is an Auckland Council Park that has been developed and expanded in recent years to become one of Auckland's finest city parks. The focal point at the top of a prominent hill is a large mansion known as the Pah Homestead which was purchased by the Council in 2002. Major renovations and development of the park followed before it was opened as the TSB Wallace Arts Centre in 2010. The public art gallery is known for changing exhibitions of contemporary New Zealand art from the collection of the benefactor James Wallace. The park has been enlarged with additions most recently when a primary school was shifted off the site.

The walk is simply a circuit of the grounds and, when combined with a visit to the gallery, is a good use of an hour or 90 minutes.

There are many historic plantings as well as more modern park landscaping. One of the old trees had succumbed to a storm shortly before my visit. 

The huge lawn sweeping down the hillside at the front of the house is reminiscent of the landscaping of some English stately homes.

There is an online map and the site includes several signs around the property giving historical details.

For those wanting more exercise a visit to the park and path could easily be combined with a bike trip on the SW Cycleway, which passes with 900 m  of the park.

Summary: Easy walk (although some steep slopes), city park, 1.2 kn circuit.

Walked: January 2019

Auckland, New Zealand: Coast to Coast Walk

A pictureque way to walk from Auckland's Waitemata Harbour entirely across the isthmus to the Manukau Harbour; in effect the shortest route from one side of the country to the other!

The walk is something of a classic amongst urban walks in New Zealand having been established in the late-1970s or 1980s. While it remains well-known by Aucklanders for that reason it does somewhat suffer in places as a result of its age with faded signage in places and the walk needlessly ending on the wrong side of a more recently constructed motorway at its southern end.

However, those are small niggles and we should be grateful for those that plotted such a great way to see so much of Auckland's urban and natural fabric with comparatively little effort.

The walk can be started at either end: Downtown or in Onehunga. There are good public transport connections - train and bus - at both ends enabling the walker to return to the start, if they've left a car there, or anywhere else such as their home or hotel. I started downtown at the Viaduct Harbour signpost.

The Auckland Council website has a useful map or the route while the Auckland Transport website usefully links to an OpenStreetMap interactive map.

I knew the route (roughly) having walked it a couple of times over several decades but photographed the maps off the signboard as a guide. There are also signs and mapboards along the way (although sometimes hard to spot).

For those unfamiliar to Auckland the walk will have many highlights including magnificent views from various lookout points, a chance to see up close places of great natural, archeological, historic and cultural interest including (in order): Albert Park, the University of Auckland, the Domain and Auckland Museum, Auckland Grammar School, Mt Eden, Epsom, Cornwall Park, Jellicoe Park and the Manukau Harbour foreshore.

I walked the route on ANZAC Day passing by several commemorations including the large one in the Domain and one at the Auckland Grammar School.

The walks up Mt Eden and One Tree Hill were both made more pleasant by the relatively recent policy of excluding motor vehicles from the summits of the maunga. (Also the case on Mt Albert - see earlier Mountain to sea walk blog entry.)

For those interested in history there are historic buildings associated with Auckland's early history in Cornwall Park, with the Land Wars in Jellicoe Park in Onehunga, and with WWI in the Domain. In addition to Auckland Museum there is an historical display at the Cornwall Park HQ.

In relation to archeology there are Maori earthworks from early pa at both Mt Eden and One Tree Hill as well as detail displays at the museum.

Although the official maps of the walk would have you finishing at the Onehunga Bay reserve at the northern side of the motorway. That would be an absurd end to a 'coast-to-coast' walk as with just 5 minutes more walking one can cross over on one of two pedestrian bridges to reach the harbour and enjoy the delightful park and artificial beaches constructed as part of beautification of this part of the harbour.

Summary: 16 km, 4-6 hours walking. moderate walk (easy most of the way but more strenuous over the two mountains).

Walked: May 2019