www.ngaio.org.nz
www.metlink.org.nz
(Kaukau is a corruption of kaka, the native parrot). native the kaka, of corruption a is (Kaukau
Open 1- 4pm Sunday 4pm 1- Open
ph 0800 801 700 801 0800 ph
and bird snaring was done on the slopes of Mt Kaukau. Kaukau. Mt of slopes the on done was snaring bird and www.teararoa.org.nz
86 Khandallah Road Khandallah 86
Metlink has train and bus timetables and journey planner. journey and timetables bus and train has Metlink
in the present Kenya Street - Trelissick Crescent area area Crescent Trelissick - Street Kenya present the in
Te Araroa Trail site Trail Araroa Te · · Onslow Historical Society Historical Onslow ·
to Khandallah. The Kaiwharawhara Pa had gardens gardens had Pa Kaiwharawhara The Khandallah. to Several bus routes connect from Wellington to Ngaio. to Wellington from connect routes bus Several
http://wellington.govt.nz route of the present Bridle Track from Winchester Street Street Winchester from Track Bridle present the of route Cummings Park Library, Ngaio Library, Park Cummings ·
Otari. There was also a track to the north following the the following north the to track a also was There Otari. parks, reserves and heritage trails. trails. heritage and reserves parks, www.tranzmetro.co.nz www.tranzmetro.co.nz
www.tracks.org.nz
and Makara Pas via various tracks that passed near near passed that tracks various via Pas Makara and and brochures on tracks, walkways, walkways, tracks, on brochures and
Downs, Ngaio, Awarua Street, Simla Crescent and Box Hill. Hill. Box and Crescent Simla Street, Awarua Ngaio, Downs,
Tracks Tracks
· Wellington City Council has maps maps has Council City Wellington · Kaiwharawhara Stream. There were links to the Ohariu Ohariu the to links were There Stream. Kaiwharawhara
Trains - Local stations on the Johnsonville Line are Crofton Crofton are Line Johnsonville the on stations Local - Trains
Kaiwharawhara was a Te Atiawa Pa at the mouth of the the of mouth the at Pa Atiawa Te a was Kaiwharawhara
How to Get There Get to How More Information More
Early Maori Early
www.adventuresmart.org.nz
cuttings.
Adventure Smart has outdoor safety information safety outdoor has Smart Adventure
the underlying bedrocks) can be seen in many Ngaio road road Ngaio many in seen be can bedrocks) underlying the
essential if you plan to walk on the exposed skyline ridges. skyline exposed the on walk to plan you if essential
fragments that flowed down the hillsides. This debris (and (and debris This hillsides. the down flowed that fragments
weather. Tell someone your plans. These precautions are are precautions These plans. your someone Tell weather.
Age produced a water-logged mantle of mud and rock rock and mud of mantle water-logged a produced Age
jacket and warm clothing carried in case of a change in the the in change a of case in carried clothing warm and jacket
(10-20,000 years ago) freeze/thaw action during an Ice Ice an during action freeze/thaw ago) years (10-20,000
Stout shoes or boots should be worn and a waterproof waterproof a and worn be should boots or shoes Stout
area (the Kaukau-surface or K-surface). More recently recently More K-surface). or Kaukau-surface (the area
Safety
flat surface that originally existed over much of the Wellington Wellington the of much over existed originally that surface flat
remains on Mt Kaukau and has given its name to the extensive extensive the to name its given has and Kaukau Mt on remains
Road Reserve and Odell’s Reserve. Reserve. Odell’s and Reserve Road A flat remnant of the original land surface or peneplain still still peneplain or surface land original the of remnant flat A
off Lower Chelmsford Street, Cummings Park, Silverstream Silverstream Park, Cummings Street, Chelmsford Lower off
Crofton Downs: the whole of Trelissick Park, Chelmsford Park Park Chelmsford Park, Trelissick of whole the Downs: Crofton
between the track and Mt Kaukau. Mt and track the between
There are five off-the-leash dog exercise areas in Ngaio and and Ngaio in areas exercise dog off-the-leash five are There
The Crow’s Nest and small notches in the southern spurs spurs southern the in notches small and Nest Crow’s The
Dog Exercise Areas Exercise Dog
upper part of Bells Track to create a shallow valley behind behind valley shallow a create to Track Bells of part upper
A good example of this is the fault line that crosses the the crosses that line fault the is this of example good A
Ngaio Gorge, or have left their mark elsewhere on the land. land. the on elsewhere mark their left have or Gorge, Ngaio www.ngaio.org.nz
lines have allowed streams to erode valleys, such as the the as such valleys, erode to streams allowed have lines
and black mudstone (argillite). Subsidiary earthquake fault fault earthquake Subsidiary (argillite). mudstone black and
Ngaio rocks are raised sedimentary sandstone (greywacke) (greywacke) sandstone sedimentary raised are rocks Ngaio
Geology
tawa, mahoe, titoki, karaka and rewarewa. and karaka titoki, mahoe, tawa,
such as the Ngaio Gorge, the bush is regenerating with with regenerating is bush the Gorge, Ngaio the as such forays or longer extended walks for fitness. for walks extended longer or forays
Ngaio Gorge to the Skyline walkway. There are short tracks for family family for tracks short are There walkway. Skyline the to Gorge Ngaio under a protective canopy of gorse. In other cut over areas, areas, over cut other In gorse. of canopy protective a under
many accessible bush reserves and walking tracks running from the lower lower the from running tracks walking and reserves bush accessible many
on the higher slopes where some areas of bush are regenerating regenerating are bush of areas some where slopes higher the on
Ngaio and Crofton Downs, two of Wellington’s northern suburbs, have have suburbs, northern Wellington’s of two Downs, Crofton and Ngaio
and shortcuts through the suburbs. the through shortcuts and cleared for dairy farming. Sheep and cattle are still grazed grazed still are cattle and Sheep farming. dairy for cleared
complement the track system and provide interesting walks walks interesting provide and system track the complement Walking Tracks Walking After the area was logged, the land was progressively progressively was land the logged, was area the After
shown on the map as dotted lines linking streets. They They streets. linking lines dotted as map the on shown
access for pedestrians to shops and transport. These are are These transport. and shops to pedestrians for access site which is now the Ngaio Tennis Club courts. Club Tennis Ngaio the now is which site
walkways and steps between streets. These provide easier easier provide These streets. between steps and walkways workings in Awarua Street providing logs for milling at a a at milling for logs providing Street Awarua in workings
Ngaio and Crofton Downs have a large number of zigzag zigzag of number large a have Downs Crofton and Ngaio were taken from the area and there were extensive bush bush extensive were there and area the from taken were
of broadleaf trees. Vast quantities of timber and firewood firewood and timber of quantities Vast trees. broadleaf of
Suburban Walkways Suburban
totara and kahikatea in association with a rich assortment assortment rich a with association in kahikatea and totara
kohekohe with some emerging podocarps such as matai, matai, as such podocarps emerging some with kohekohe
podocarp forest. There were extensive stands of tawa and and tawa of stands extensive were There forest. podocarp lower entrance is on the right. the on is entrance lower
Pre-European vegetation was generally a mixed broadleaf - - broadleaf mixed a generally was vegetation Pre-European Ngaio. Go along Churchill Drive to Blackridge Road. The The Road. Blackridge to Drive Churchill along Go Ngaio.
Drive or Churchill Drive. Otari is easy walking distance from from distance walking easy is Otari Drive. Churchill or Drive
Botany national treasure. Access is from Wilton Road, John Witton Witton John Road, Wilton from is Access treasure. national
Trelissick Park Northern Walkway Orleans Makererua Reserve (Pukatea Track)
The park covers a large area of rugged landscape extending The track in Trelissick Park from Hanover Street to Waikowhai This small reserve has an interesting 10 minute track running from the lower Ngaio Gorge to Waikowhai Street with an extensive Street is part of the Northern Walkway. From Waikowhai from Makererua Street (off Heke Street) to Orleans Street network of walking tracks. Cared for by a dedicated group of Street a short road walk leads to Cummings Park. From (off Chelmsford Street). There is a gently sloped grassed volunteers in co-operation with the Wellington City Council Awarua Street the walkway goes along Khandallah Road area at the Orleans end. The reserve is notable for a number for over 20 years, the park has regenerating bush and a and Simla Crescent to Khandallah Park where it ascends to of fine specimens of native trees (pukatea, kahikatea and number of heritage trees. the top of Mt Kaukau. titoki) that are survivors from the original bush. A local care group looks after the area. There are five main entrances to Trelissick Park: Huntleigh Park Reserve Ngaio Gorge / Kaiwharawhara Road Skyline Walkway Ngaio Gorge Road This lesser known area is a WCC reserve. Adjoining bush is Trelissick Crescent administered by the Girl Guides Association. Access is from Part of this walkway runs north-south along the ridge between Waikowhai Street behind the Playcentre in Silverstream Road, Crofton Downs Mt Kaukau and Crofton Downs. It is 4 km long and takes two Hanover Street and Huntleigh Park Way. Tracks are marked with small hours at an easy pace. On a clear day there are spectacular coloured posts. Some care is needed in several areas that views of the Kaikoura ranges, the Marlborough Sounds, From the Waikowhai Street entrance (near the railway overbridge are quite steep. Wellington city and harbour and the Tararua and Orongorongo between Ngaio and Crofton Downs) the trackdescends to ranges. The walkway is open to walkers and mountain bikers. Wightwick’s Field, a flat grassed area with a picnic table and seats. Not far from the Waikowhai Street entrance the track Cummings Park Local access points to the Skyline Walkway are: is carved out of solid rock. This is believed to be the remains This grassed flat park is behind the Ngaio shops. There is a - through the car park at the end of Chartwell Drive of a nineteenth century logging track. stream, an old totara, a sculpture, seating, a children’s - Bell’s Track, from the end of Awarua Street playground and a designated off-the-lead dog exercise area. - Khandallah Park. Tracks to Mt Kaukau join up with the A few metres further on, the Silverstream from Crofton Skyline Walkway. Downs emerges from a culvert. Adjacent to this are the remains of a rare old drystone wall constructed when the Heke Street Reserve Wellington-Manawatu Railway Line was built in the 1880s. Piwakawaka Track (Odell’s Reserve) A pleasant track through this reserve links Crofton Downs The track follows the Korimako Stream until it intersects and Ngaio. Access is from the end of Collingwood Street Access is from alongside 14 Punjab Street or from Old Porirua with tracks from Trelissick Crescent and Hanover Street, and between 45 and 47 Thatcher Crescent. A side track Road near the entrance to the Harbour Lights subdivision. Wadestown. runs to Heke Street emerging next to 41 Heke Street. This track passes through regenerating bush and provides a convenient segment of a circular walk in association with the Just before the junction with the Wadestown-Trelissick section Silversky Track Bridle Track. The highest point, at the water tanks, provides of the track, a zigzag track provides access to one of the spectacular views of the city, harbour and Ngaio itself. Great vantage point for Guy Fawkes night. area’s finest scenic features. This is the emergence of the The Silversky Track is a walking and biking track from Downing stream from a section known as The Gorge from its narrowness Street up towards the Crofton Downs substation. From there and steep sides. At the junction there are several notable you can follow a track to the Skyline Walkway. A new sec- Chartwell Reserve trees nearby especially two mature specimens of miro and tion connecting Downing St with Silverstream Road is due for totara. completion in late 2014. The Green Belters restoration group are developing a From the junction another track runs around the steep hillside delightful picnic area at the entrance to Chartwell Reserve, to Ngaio Gorge Road. Walking this track requires care due near the top of Chartwell Drive. From there you can walk to to the steep slope. Downhill from the intersection, the left Bell’s Track Otari Wilton’s Bush or the Skyline Walkway, passing bee- hand track near the river (now called the Kaiwharawhara hives and a horse paddock on the way. Stream) continues to the two lower Ngaio Gorge Road exits. This re-established route starts at the top of Awarua Street and joins a farm track up to a saddle on the ridge. It originally Otari - Wilton’s Bush A major point of interest towards the end of the track is the provided access between farms in Ohariu Valley and Ngaio railway station. From the top there are fantastic views over remains of an historic powder magazine built in 1879-80 This unique sanctuary in nearby Wilton is devoted to indigenous Wellington and the South Island. A dedicated care group is and used for storing explosives during the Russian invasion New Zealand plants. It has a range of tracks through forest, restoring the vegetation. scare of the 1880s. In 2002 the site was damaged when a gardens, open spaces and picnic areas. This is one of bank robbery getaway car was set alight. PREPARED BY the finest showcases of native flora in the country. It is a Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association 4th edition.