Let’s Go For a Walk. A LEISURELY ROUTE TO MOUNT VICTORIA

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 95, 16 January 1935, Page 8

Let’s Go For a Walk. A LEISURELY ROUTE TO MOUNT VICTORIA

Lovely Panoramic Views

There are many to whom a strenuous tramp may be forbidden. For such as these, ■there is a short walk which will satisfy every longing. There is hilltop air, sea air and a most enchanting panorama—all obtained with a minimum of both tijiie and effort. There is a well-cut path of gentle grade which commences at the fire brigade station, Constable Street, and leads to the crest of Mount Victoria. Passing over the joys and surprises of the walk itself, let us concentrate on the thrill with which one is rewarded on arrival at the summit. Where shall we turn first? Beauty surrounds us everywhere, either in the greater or lesser distance. Below us, and looking westward, lies the city—houses, shops, factories, sprinkled like currants of a giant plum pudding in an enormous basin, with here and there a tall building. Look away .and beyond the closelypacked congested area, and many gems of beauty show themselves-—Govern-ment House, well-nigh hidden now by tall trees; Wellington, College, with its green lawns and grassy banks; Victoria College “on the hill”; the stately carillon with the new museum and art gallery rising up behind it; the picturesque Kelburn Kiosk, with its twin towers against a background of dark pines.

Change the view-point. Look away to the south. Is it a clear day, and can you see the misty outline of the Kaikouras away beyond that blue stretch which we call the Straits? And do you see the breakers rolling in and spending themselves on that most expansive of Wellington’s beaches —the sandy Lyall Bay? And there is Pencarrow, a white monument now, but at night a warning to travellers on the sea that they are entering “the Heads.” Across the narrow isthmus (formed by an earthquake) lie the peaceful waters of Evans Bay, and away there behind the hills is a tiny peep of azure blue water again.

Here is another ‘basin, a smaller one, with floor and. sides covered, with picturesque houses, their white walls and red or green roofs sparkling in the sun like “hundreds and thousands,” or, if it be night, glimmering and glistening like so many fairy lights. Walk on a little farther, and, if you are equal to it, climb to the signal station and gaze in delight at the beautiful harbour. Near at hand are the tiny yachts and launches, at rest in the boat harbour, or perchance sailing gracefully on the peaceful waters of AVhanga nui a Tara. Beyond is the shipping. Giant travellers and tiny coasters, all waiting to be filled and sent off on their many journeys. Now look to the north, and Ngaio clings to the hillside, while Petone lies quietly beside the bed of the Hutt River. Turn round, and the eastern bays appear—too small to be separated and yet all making one ■ big arena—York Bay. Day’s Bay, Muritai —with Somes and Ward Islands keeping guard in tlie middle. Right at our feet is the pretty Oriental Bay, with its charming homes, its ■ trees and its, esplanade—a true “Naples of the South.” ■ Perchance you have taken your walk by night. If so, you are gazing on a veritable Fairyland! Where will you find a scene to equal it? Petone’s lights scintillate like so many diamonds, vicing with those of Eastbourne and the city, while nearer at hand the fairy Tamps of Oriental Bay sway gently in the breeze or gaily dance upon the placid waters. There is surely no need to envy those who make a trip to the glowworm caves!

And now the descent begins—a gentle sloping path, past 2YA, with its giant masts and its flaming sky signal, and so out on to Palliser Road, thence to Oriental Bay—the end of a most fascinating and exhilarating tramp with all the pleasures and none of the discomforts of tlie “uijld life.” —VICTORIA.”