On the last day of February, we took a ferry from Picton in South Island to Wellington in North Island.

Then we drove up the East Coast highway for about an hour until we reached the town of Paekakariki. Paekakariki is a one horse town with a railway station, a general store and a restaurant/bar/cinema called Finn’s.

 

It has a narrow beach with a pretty view of Kapiti Island.  The sea is studded with what look like seals but turn out to be surfers waiting to catch a wave. We found a green and leafy campsite, based in the Queen Elizabeth park. We walked through the park to the beach to watch the sun go down.

 

The next day, I woke up full of the joys – the sun was shining and it was David’s birthday! I’d managed to find a card in the general store so it was excitement all round as he opened his card and his presents – a bar of chocolate and a new T-shirt (which he’d already seen since we chose it together in Sydney.)  I know how to treat a guy! I then proposed we did The Escarpment walk which was top of ‘things to do in Paekakariki’ on Trip Advisor.  David agreed and we set off  – without much idea of what we were letting ourselves in for. We bumped into one of the campsite staff who kindly offered to give us a lift to Porirua.

The walk started at the Railway Station at Porirua. A sign informed us that the track was 11 kilometres and would take 4-6 hours. It was now 2 pm. The sign warned that the path was unsuitable for anyone scared of heights or unsteady on their feet. If we needed water, a wee or were ill equipped for high winds/sun/rain etc, etc, we had better turn back now. Once we were on the path, there were no facilities and no way to get off the path until we reached the end of the path. I started to feel a bit apprehensive and wonder if we had enough water –  but having just done the Abel Tasman Trail, we felt ready to tackle anything, and pressed on.

Soon we were climbing high above the railway line, skirting the edge of a ridge of hills which ran parallel to the coast. The path climbed steadily, becoming narrower and narrower. Soon, we were faced with countless flights of wooden steps which took us higher and higher up the hill. Then we were climbing down again, and traversing a gully on a wobbly swing bridge, bridging the gap to reach the next hill – and the next set of wooden steps climbing steeply again.

 

As soon as I felt the worst was behind us, things became worse again. Rock falls and landslips had affected the path, and in places where the path was particularly narrow, an unsteady guide rope was provided to hang on to. My stomach was doing back flips and I was taken back to my rock climbing days on the Avon Gorge, almost thirty years ago. David meanwhile, has no fear of heights at all and was skipping merrily on without a care.

 

After a time, both of us started to feel the heat. The temperature must have been over 30 c, with the hills seeming to absorb and reflect the sun. Mercifully, there were occasional patches of shade as we entered small copses, where sheep huddled to keep out of the sun. Finally, we reached the highest point of the walk and sat down on benches to catch out breath and admire the view of the coast. We had finished the water already and all we had left was two apples, which we tucked into.

Fortunately, after this point, the walk was mainly downhill. The sun was lower in the sky and not quite so hot.  We arrived back in Paekarariki  just before 6 pm – and stopped into Finn’s beer garden for a well earned drink. Soon, half of Paekarariki turned up and joined us at the bar, creating a great atmosphere. We were so happy sitting there that we decided to stay for dinner. A nice way to end David’s birthday.