The day dawned slightly overcast and with no hint of rain 11 of us set out to Heyward Point from Aramoana. Starting at sea level, it was barely 50m of flat before a steep 200m climb with impressive views of the harbour and Aramoana opening out behind us with each step we took. We stopped often to look back at the Mole, Aramoana and across to Taiaroa Head.
As we got higher, the upper part of the hill is not as steep and the climbing became easier. One of our group who lived in the area, Gordon, was full of interesting bits of information and history about the area and he kept us amused with his stories as we continued to climb up the hill . We rested near the top of the hill and were able to watch as a pilot boat went out to meet a large container ship and then see the container ship make it's way through the harbour mouth and down towards Port Chalmers. Upon reaching the top of the hill we were able to take in the grandeur of the sheer walled cliffs that we were heading towards. 
We walked along the top of these cliffs towards the headland that is Heywards Point. The track skirts along the edge of the cliffs and through a stand of pine trees before crossing into a paddock where again, we rested with more fantastic views looking out towards the sea with the golden glow of the Autumn sun reflecting on the water. The day was warming up and we were enjoying the calm day as often this area is battered by strong winds as evidenced by the nearby twisted, gnarly trees.
After a short traverse across the farm paddock we entered a reserve with a wide track taking us down through native bush. This downhill part of the walk was peaceful and relaxing after all the climbing we had done. A couple of piwakawaka (fantail) followed us along the trail making a grab for any small bugs that we stirred up as we passed. All too soon we came to the end of the native bush section and emerged on a headland where we were able to look back at the steep cliffs that we had walked along the edge of. 
It was here that we enjoyed a short morning tea break and again Gordon entertained us with stories of how there used to be a rope up the cliff that gave access to and from the beach below. It's hard to believe that particular story when looking down the 100m precipice to the beach below where there is very little to hang onto when climbing up or down the cliff. The next part of our journey took us through long grass down to the light beacon 
The cliffs here are also impressive with some lovely rocky beaches where we were able to sit at the top and watch the seals lazing on the rocks below. One particular rocky beach with a watery pool was surrounded by a large number of baby seals with a couple of large seals keeping guard. Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the cliff edge to enjoy a long lunch in the sun.
After lunch we retraced our steps, almost 200m back up the hill and through the regenerating bush to the farm paddocks where Gordon pointed out some anomalies in the surrounding countryside. We diverted from our route in by crossing the paddock (with permission) where we came across some large, soccer ball sized puffpalls. We couldn't believe the size of them and wondered what the weight of them would be.
The final part of our journey took us through a gate and down another farm paddock (with permission) where we followed an old 4x4 track on a circuitous route down the hill, chasing the sheep along in front of us. The best part of this route is that we had stunning views all the way down the hill and we came out near an old quarry. Our vantage point gave us a good view into the quarry and we were able to see how each level of the quarry had been created. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, the only thing left was a short road walk back to the cars.
All up it was a very enjoyable day's walk with warm, calm weather and spectacular coastal views. Although it is a reasonably short 8.5km walk, there is a quite a lot of up and down as we started at sea level and climbed 200m before descending to the light beacon almost at sea level and our return journey saw us climbing almost 200m again before descending back to sea level.
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