Back in Action

I’ve had a busy few weeks and my usual Nordic Walking routine has been dramatically disrupted.  On our return from the UK the whole family had to move at short notice, which has been closely followed by a special milestone birthday for my husband and a few other things like Santa Parades and other events have caused shorter walks on a Sunday.

Following the Coastal Track at Long Bay

On Sunday 20th November at the earlier time of 7.30 am, (which incidentally caught a couple of our walkers out) North Shore Nordic Walkers walked locally, luckily for us the weather has been good and our favourite haunt of Long Bay regional park has completed some of the new tracks over the cliff top.  It’s a great walk and we actually started from Valley Road at Browns Bay up the walkway adjacent to the beach and up to the top across Torbay, walking along Cliff Road through the Te Araroa walkway and down across the beach.  Taking the path at the end of the Long Bay beach we followed the Nature Trail across an open field and onto the cliff. Now that the area is cleared there are spectacular views from the top, however there is a new gate system that does interrupt the walkways and makes Nordic Walking slightly trickier along the path, there are also little bridges that you can use but these have the cattle bars which are also not conducive to walking with poles. We opted to take the cliff walkways as our means of descent and walked our way through the park along the roadside.  We all noted the new play area; it’s looking great with new paths and play equipment and looks to be on track for completing before the school holidays in December.

The New Coastal Track on the Cliff at Long Bay

Sunday 27th November we had a very short walk, meeting at Toroa Street and again walked along Cliff Road down to Long Bay and across the beach. We took the nature trail again but this time we turned left  instead of the right as before, this takes you around the back of the park and onto the road.  We saw heaps of Pukekos and were treated to the sight of a hedgehog curled up on the pathway.

The Earthworks on Beach Road

As we moved further along the track just by the rear car park area, one of our Nordic Walkers spotted a huge rabbit, but before I could get my camera out it shot across the field and out of sight.  I even saw quite a few skinks in the bush area too as we whisked by. It was  truly a Nature Trail and a reminder to all of us that we live in a wonderful area with great opportunities to walk both beach and bush trails where you do encounter beautiful birds like the Fantail or the Tui.

Faye Nordic Walking Her Faithful Companion

On our way back we stopped to survey the Earthworks on Beach Road, the work here seems to be gathering pace and the area is changing dramatically, traffic at Long Bay and Torbay is going to be busier over the next few years but it's good to see that footpaths and walkways are being extended and improved.