Day 123 Harwood

Today was my longest day of walking as I walked from Company Bay to Harwood, then walked the streets in Harwood.  I walked 14 streets today.

1666. King George Street
1667. Camp Street
1668. Portobello Road
1669. Tily Street
1670. Hanson Street
1671. Weir Road
1672. Harrington Point Road
1673. Harwood Street
1674. Carnock Road
1675. Stepney Avenue
1676. Kokomuka Avenue
1677. Michael Avenue
1678. Ide Street
1679. Tidewater Drive

I started my walk along a wet cycle/walkway at the edge of the harbour.  The weather was overcast with no rain and I knew I had a long way to go today.  I walked around the shared cycle/walkway that runs along the side of Portobello Road and unlike last time when I walked part of the cycle/walkway, I saw only a handful of cyclists and very few walkers/runners.  Today my aim was to walk the rest of the cycle/walkway.

It has taken a number of years for the harbour cycle/walkway to be built and is a real asset to the city.  There has been a lot of work gone into the cycle/walkway with some lovely bridges around some parts of the route.

 

Along the way there are seats placed with great views looking down the harbour towards the city.  A lot of effort has gone into making this shared cycle/walkway appealing for both walkers and cyclists.

There was the odd side street that I needed to walk up and from these streets, I was able to gain a bit of height and look across the harbour towards Mt. Cargill.

But mostly I walked along the side of the harbour along the shared cycle/walkway beside Portobello Road.  I was able to join some of the suburbs up that I had been in walking over the last few days together.

Commonly referred to as Pineapple Rock, this rock with a macrocarpaea tree on top and looks like a pineapple.  The walkway goes around the outside of the rock.  I had been lucky with my walk today as the weather kept improving, the further down the harbour I walked.

With the improving weather, came improving views.  I was able to look across the harbour to Port Chalmers and Mt. Cargill behind it.  Mt Cargill is the hill on the far left. 

Walking beside the harbour was very pleasant as the weather was calm and with very few cyclists, I could wander along at my own pace without having to continuously look around for cyclists.  There was also not a lot of traffic.

 

And then I reached Portobello where I had been walking yesterday. From Portobello, I continued walking around the harbour to Harwood. 

Once past Portobello, the cycle/walkway ended and I continued walking along on the edge of Harrington Point Road.  The edge of this road is wide and there is plenty of room to walk safely.  The views down habour are stunning. 

 

Eventually I walked all the way to Harwood.  There are only a few streets in Harwood with a lot of them having houses on side and the harbour on the other.

An enterprising local has created a seat using the pole.  The seat is a nice place to have great views of the harbour.  On a calm day like today, it is a magical place to sit.

Not all houses in Harwood have harbour views, some look out over rural farmland.  There are a lot of houses with horses in paddocks close by in Harwood. 

But mostly the views in Harwood are of the harbour and Mt Cargill.  This was a good opportunity to see Mt. Cargill from a distance as tomorrow is my final walk and I will be walking the streets as close to Mt. Cargill as I can get.  

I saw this 'mile peg' on the shared cycle/walkway.  This is the last of the old mile pegs remaining on the Portobello Road.  Originally there was a post every mile along the road from Portobello to Vauxhall and each post had the number of miles to Vauxhall engraved on it.  This is the only 'mile peg' left and marks 7 miles to Vauxhall.

If you are wanting to buy a Merry-go-round then I know of where one is on the side of the road.  This Merry-go-round is for sale. Somehow I don't think there is a big market for merry-go-rounds.

 I have seen some unusual signs during my challenge to walk all of the streets.  While I have seen the 'watch out for children' sign, I have not seen one with a cat as well.  

I walked past a number of nicely painted bus shelters.  These bus shelters have been painted by artist John Noakes who lived in Broad Bay.  John Noakes spent  years painting murals on bus shelters around the city.

There were a couple of interesting letterboxes today.  One is shaped like a telephone box and the other is a metal man.  Both are quite large and would hold a lot of mail.

Distance walked:  17.7 km         Walking time  3 hr 06 mins    

Total distance: 1024.3  km          Total walking  191 hr 19 mins 

Day Ninety Four Maia

With daylight savings and spring, the days are getting longer which means I can walk more in the evening.  Today I walked 9 streets.

1246. Manapouri Street
1247. Ascog Road
1248. Ravensbourne Road
1249. Rotoiti Street
1250. Fern Road
1251. Isabel Street
1252. Babsie Road
1253. Jesse Street
1254. De Lacy Street

As I was walking in the evening, after work today, I headed back to Ravensbourne where I had been walking last week and walked the streets of the neighbouring suburb of Maia. The streets in Maia are just as steep as Ravensbourne. 

 

And as I have seen throughout my walking the streets of Dunedin, walking the streets on the hills means great views. The residents of these houses get great views looking across the harbour to the hills of the peninsula.

 

After walking the steep streets to the bottom, I chose to walk up the streets that wound their way up the hill.  It was still the same height gain but it was much easier walking, although the streets are still very narrow.

 

At the top, I came across a new street which is part of a new subdivision.  The houses that are being built in this new street are all going to have fantastic views looking up the harbour. 

 

Having already walked down the hill and back up, I then walked down Jesse Street which must rival Baldwin Street for the steepest street title. Jesse Street is only one way for down hill traffic.

 

And once at the bottom, I had to walk back up the hill (for the second time tonight).  Like the last time, I walked up a street that was less steep and wound it's way up the hill. 

 

The painted bus stop at Maia is painted with a harbour view and native birds often seen in the area.

Distance walked:  5.3 km         Walking time  1 hr 3 mins   

 
Total distance: 771.5 km          Total walking  144 hr 38 mins 

Day Eighty Seven Fairfield

Lockdown in New Zealand has been eased with a move to Alert Level 2 which means that I can travel further to exercise so today I went back to Fairfield to finish the streets that I had started walking three weeks ago. Today I walked 20 streets

1094. Hartley Street
1095. Park Lane
1096. St James Place
1097. Cockburn Street
1098. Fry Street
1099. Martin Road
1100. Fairplay Street
1101. Centennial Road
1102. Freyberg Road
1103. Coach Road
1104. Saddleview Place
1105. Sickels Street
1106. Robert Street
1107. Walton Park Avenue
1108. Hogan Place
1109. Estuary Crescent
1110. Blanc Avenue
1111. Edith Street
1112. Alfred Place

1113. Main Road

After walking the steep streets of North East Valley and Opoho over the last couple of weeks, the streets of Fairfield were a complete contrast as Fairfield is mainly flat.  There is not the same views in Fairfield, however the area is surrounded by some small hills with farmland and trees.

Part of my walk today, took me along the old road that was once the main road out of Dunedin before the Southern Motorway was built.  I have slowly been walking my way towards Saddle Hill. 

 

And this is the Southern Motorway which is now the main route out of the city.  I was out walking early in the morning before there was much traffic on the motorway.  During the week, this motorway can be very busy.

 

Built in 1904 this house was the former Coach and Horses Hotel and has been extensively renovated. While it is now a private home, it features many of the original fittings from it's former days as a hotel. 

On my walk today, I walked past the Fulton Hogan yard where there is this old mechanical loader/shovel.  Obviously not in use anymore, it is much smaller than modern machinery.  

Some of the street art that I walked past today was the wall of this building painted with some local wildlife and their habitat

And this bus shelter painted with art from children at the local school.  I am really enjoying seeing all the painted bus stops around the city. 

I walked past a number of interesting letterboxes today.  The most unusual is the old water pump one, the most fun is the yellow smiley one.  The small barrel is probably my favourite letterbox of the day.

Distance walked:  10.7  km         Walking time  1 hr 55 mins  

 

Total distance: 700.5 km        Total walking  131 hr 16 mins 

Day Sixty Six Green Island

 I decided to finish walking the streets of Green Island today and I walked 20 streets.

810. Scotland Terrace
811. Devonport Street
812. Tomkins Street
813. Quarry Road
814. Corbett Street
815. District Road
816. Church Street
817. Derby Street
818. Edinburgh Street
819. Rennie Street
820. Muir Street
821. Loudon Street
822. Kirkland Street
823. Geddes Street
824. Howden Street
825. Benfell Street
826. Shand Street
827. Jenkins Street
828. Harraway Road
829. Carnforth Street

Green Island is an unusual name for the suburb that I am walking today as it is not an island.  Green Island gets it's name from a nearby offshore island, Green Island/Okaihe.  Even more unusual is that the suburb Green Island is not near the sea and you cannot see the offshore island from the suburb of Green Island. 

Green Island has some steep streets and I started my walk today by walking up Scotland Street.  The good thing about hills is that you get some good views and I was rewarded with a good view of Saddle Hill. 

The residents of the houses in the first few streets that I walked have some very good views looking towards Saddle Hill and Abbotsford.  I have not walked the Abbotsford streets yet so it was a good chance for me to stop and see where I still have to walk.

I walked past the Green Island cemetery today which has a lovely outlook onto rural farm land.  I heard a lot of birdsong during this part of my walk.

 District Road was an interesting street to walk along as not only did I walk past a cemetery, but as I neared the end, the street turned from built up with houses to farmland and the views looking towards the hills opposite and Abbotsford really opened up. 

Once back down the hill and onto the flat, I walked the streets surrounding the Green Island shopping area and then down Harraway Road which runs down the side of the Harraway Mill which has been on its current site since 1867.

Harraway Road is a short street with a small one lane bridge over the Kaikorai Stream.  I had already walked over the Kaikorai Stream when I walked Kaikorai Valley. 

 

 The last street I walked today was Carnford Street which borders the Green Island Rugby Club fields.  This is where 69 houses slipped down the hill during the 1979 Abbotsford landslide.  Below is a photo of what the area is like today and the photo below was taken not long after the 1979 slip.

 

 

One of the more interesting things I walked past today was this old plow.  It was something that I would not have thought I'd see on the side of a road in a city suburb.

 

I saw a few farm animals on my walk today, including horses and sheep.  Running around the horse paddock was a pukeko but it was too far away for me to get a photo. 

I walked past the Green Island School which is one of Dunedin's older schools, opening in 1953. It's original site is where the cemetery is and  the school moved to this current site in 1862.

During my walk I walked past these two bus stops that are painted to represent rugby and tennis.  The tennis bus stop was outside the Green Island tennis club but the rugby bus stop was in the shopping area.

 

And finally, it's been a while since I shared the map of the streets that I have walked.  All the streets in red are the streets that I have walked over the last six months.

Distance walked:  11  km         Walking time   2 hrs 24 mins  

 

Total distance: 533.9 km       Total walking  100 hr 14 mins