Te Ara Alexandra Pathway

North Shore Nordic Walkers met at Rosedale Park on Sunday, it was cold but the rain held, we all met at Jack Hinton Drive and took a stroll down Jack Hinton Drive and into the park.

Rosedale Park North Home of Competitive Softball

There are lots of excavation works going on at the moment; this is for a new stadium and new softball diamonds. Rosedale Sports Stadium will be ready for use in the 2013 season which will be in time for the World softball Championships to be held at Rosedale Park from 1 – 10th March 2013.

There is other work going on there too, it seems that cable installations are in progress from Albany to Wairau and a lot of the park is fenced off at the moment, but as we progressed along our route it was nice to see that the installation of the outdoor exercise equipment was now complete and was being used.

Pam E Demonstrating a Graceful Dismount with Nordic Walking Poles

Coming out of the park and crossing over from Jack Hinton Drive to Barbados Drive and onto the concrete path that runs alongside Alexandra stream we passed though into the tunnel under the Upper Harbour Highway. The painted corrugated tunnel artwork was the handiwork of Jonathan Grange a local and self taught airbrush artist who has done much work on the Shore, it’s painted with bushes and trees making it bright and inviting.

The Airbrushed Tunnel by Jonathan Grange

After a short walk we were on the boardwalk which has been completed and looks terrific, we all marched across making a clatter with our Nordic Walking Poles. It’s much nicer than walking across the path as it is covered with tree trunks and can be dangerous underfoot when it’s wet.

The Beautiful Arum Lily

The bush is really dense along here and is lined with the New Zealand Ponga Trees. The Ponga or Kaponga grows the silver fern that is the national symbol for New Zealand whilst the koru which is often depicted in Maori art is based on the young curled frond of the Ponga leaf, which has the distinctive silver colour on the underside of the leaf and gives it it’s name. The reserve is actually situated between housing and commercial buildings although you would never think that you’re actually still walking in suburbia. I was struck by the huge Arum lilies growing either side of the path and was told that these are probably noxious and extremely poisonous, but they are beautiful to look at and grow wild in New Zealand. A little further along we came across a striking Lilac tree too, it seemed so out of place, typical of an English Garden but didn't seem quite at home in the bush.

The New Wooden Walkway Through the Reserve

Another amazing featue in the bush environment and quite wonderful to look at, are the tiny Gorse Spider Mite webs, these tiny creatures were introduced into New Zealand as a mean of biocontrol. They spin the most intricate, dense cobwebs and tend to cluster in the plant, originally they came from Europe and have been ideal to control infestations of the Gorse plant.

The Intricate and Fibrous Gorse Spider Mite Web

Once out into the open, the path is lined with new exercise equipment which brings you out at Unsworth Heights. This is one of the North Shore’s popular suburban areas particularly for young families and is situated just north of Rosedale and not too far from Glenfield.

Crossing over the road we made our way back to Unsworth Heights Reserve, after a short walk passing more equipment, we arrived at the park however there were further earthworks interrupting the path. Gingerly we climbed across the orange plastic fencing continuing along past the children’s playground, across the street and onto the path back into the reserve.

On the way back instead of turning to the left after leaving the tunnel, we took the gravel  path along the right hand side of the stream, it comes out a little farther along the pavement where we crossed back to Jack Hinton Drive and into Rosedale Park.

Pam E Leading & Demonstrating a Very Graceful Ascent to Unsworth Park

It did start to get a little damp and cold but we managed to keep dry on the short Nordic Walk back to the cars. Once we arrived back at the cars and I had distributed the wipes to clean our poles, we were deep into conversations about the nearest cafe.  It was decided to visit the New Deli Cafe for coffee as most of the Nordic Walkers have been before and it’s got a nice selection of beverages and breakfast items.

Despite much confusion over coffees and what could have been an expensive scrambled egg on toast, the waitresses were quick to sort out our order.  The scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast are recommended, it arrived on my plate looking like a scale model of Rangitoto!

Information & Sources:

http://www.sportsground.co.nz/Article.asp?SiteID=5630&ArticleID=13835
https://www.asa.ac.nz/documents/transport/albanynewsletter1.pdf
http://www.aucklandtransport.govt.nz/moving-around/delays-roadworks/CurrentRestrictions/Pages/Te-Ara-Alexandra-Cycle-Walkway-Tunnel-Upgrade.aspx