Day 117 Brighton

 I headed South to walk the streets of seaside suburb of Brighton.  I walked 14 streets.

1583. Cole Street
1584. Trecastle Street
1585. Queen Street
1586. Pearse Street
1587. Taylor Street
1588. Bath Street
1589. Bedford Parade
1590. Hastings Street
1591. Copeland Street
1592. Wells Street
1593. Morse Street
1594. McIntosh Road
1595. Seaview Road
1596. Scroggs Hill Road

 

 Brighton is a small seaside town on the southern boundary of Dunedin and has a popular beach.  I started walking over the Otokia Creek.  A one lane bridge crosses the creek. 

Then I walked along Brighton Road which has houses on one side and the beach on the other.  This coastal road takes you to Taieri Mouth and further south. 

 

After walking the coastal road, I walked up the hill where I was able to look down to where I had been walking only a few minutes earlier.  I was able to see the down the coast towards Taieri Mouth and also see where there was beach across the road from the houses.

One of the streets that I walked along was Marine Parade which was unusual in that it had large grass fields with trees in the middle of the street.  The houses on the left in this picture are on one side of the Marine Parade with the houses on the right also on Marine Parade.  

After walking Marine Parade, I walked some streets that gave me a good view over wetlands.  This is a lovely place to live with a quiet, almost holiday feel to the town.

 

Then I was back down the hill and crossed the Otokia Creek.  This kayaking/boating place is part of the camping ground which has been sold and no longer operates. The boats were once popular to hire and paddle around the wetlands behind the camping ground. 

 

 I followed the road around the side of the hill and was able to look down onto Brighton Beach. This is a safe beach that is patrolled by the surf lifesavers and is a good beach for swimming.  It has plenty of white sand and rock pools further around for exploring.

 

Looking the other way, I was able to look down the coast towards Dunedin.  Unfortunately it started to rain and some of the coast was obscured by the rain.  I haven't had to walk in the rain very often during my challenge and this time really made up for it with very loud thunder, lightening and heavy rain.

As I followed Brighton Road around the cliffside I was able to look across to the streets that I was going to be walking

Despite the rain, the views were still worth stopping for, although the rain did mean that the photos didn't come out so well. This was a good place to stop and look at where I had been walking today.

 

I walked past these huge macrocarpa trees that dwarfed the cars and houses nearby.  The trunks on these trees are massive and would have made a fantastic play fort.

 

Brighton has a number of nicely painted bus stops.  Each one has pictures relating to the area with the sea and sea creatures being the most popular. 

 

There was only one interesting letterbox on my walk and that was this mailbox letterbox

 

Lastly, this map shows that streets that I have walked in Brighton highlighted in red.  I still have a few more streets to walk but these ones will be in Ocean View.

 Distance walked:  9 km         Walking time  1 hr 45 mins    

Total distance: 969.5  km          Total walking  180 hr 56 mins 

Day 116 Port Chalmers & Careys Bay

Today was a longer walk as I combined finishing the streets in Port Chalmers with walking the streets in Careys Bay.  I walked 22 streets today

1561. Bernicia Street
1562. Bellevue Place
1563. Fox Street
1564. Meridan Street
1565. Harrington Street
1566. Laing Street
1567. Burns Street
1568. Daly Street
1569. Mount Street
1570. Church Street
1571. Ajax Road
1572. Borlases Street
1573. Blueskin Road
1574. Kohi Place
1575. William Street
1576. Coombe Hay Terrace
1577. Harbour Terrace
1578. Cemetery Road
1579. Willmott Street
1580. Slant Street
1581. Henry Street
1582. Macandrew Road

 

My walk today took me over the top of the hill at Port Chalmers, although I did have to walk up and down the hill a couple of times as I walked each street completely.  

The houses on the streets that I was walking today were positioned on the hill so that they looked either towards the harbour or towards Mt Cargill.  Today the harbour was calm with great reflections of harbour cone. 

Mt. Cargill has dominated the view in many parts of the city that I have walked although I haven't seen it from this angle before.  Mt. Cargill has the transmitter on it with Buttars Peak beside it and Mt Holmes further along.
 

Port Otago is obvious from most streets in Port Chalmers.  I have been able to see the crane gantries and ships or hear the noises from the port during my walk of the streets.

Having seen the Iona Church from most parts of Port Chalmers, this is as close as I got to walking past it.  Built from Port Chalmers Blue Stone and Oamaru Stone, Iona Church was built in 1872 and is still used for services today.

After walking past Iona Church, I continued walking up the hill behind Port Chalmers.  This was a great place to be able to see the streets that I have been walking.  It is always a good feeling looking back and knowing that I have walked every street that I can see.

As I walked further up the hill, I crossed the railway line.  I have been around this railway line many times during my challenge to walk every street.  From here I had beautiful views looking down the harbour towards the city and closer are the houses of Roseneath.

Eventually I walked all the way to the Robert Scott Memorial Lookout.  The views from the look out are fantastic and I was able to see most of Port Chalmers, both Goat and Quarantine Island in the middle of the harbour and harbour cone on the peninsula behind. 

I was also able to look down onto the port with two container ships.  It was fascinating to watch the gantries and straddle carriers moving about, lifting and loading containers.  From this height everything looks small, however I remember how big and high the rows of containers were when I was walking down near them.

 

Built in 1913, the Scott Memorial commemorates the ill-fated Scott expedition that left Port Chalmers for Antarctica on 19 November 1910

Also at the site of the Scott Memorial is this large iron anchor from an unknown sailing ship that often got caught in local fisher nets, it was hauled ashore in 1978.

From the lookout, I took a track past the Port Chalmers cemetery to Careys Bay which is the next bay around from Port Chalmers.  The streets of Careys Bay are steep and the houses are nestled amongst native bush.

Most of the houses in Careys Bay have a view of the marina and habour.  Today the habour was calm with no wind and it was a beautiful place to be walking. 

 

Careys Bay is also close to Port Otago.  It was easy to see from this angle how much the port dominates the area with the containers stacked high.

Once down from walking the streets on the hill, it was nice to be beside the sea and watch the boats bobbing on the harbour while I walked back along the road around the bottom of the hill.

 

One of the lovely old buildings I walked past today is the Chick's Hotel beside Port Otago.  Built in 1876, Chicks operated as a hotel and more recently a music venue until it closed in 2016. 

The Careys Bay Hotel was another historic hotel that I walked past today.  Built in 1874 from Port Chalmers Blue Stone, the hotel has been continuously serving alcohol and today is a popular seafood restaurant particularly during weekends.

Another historic building that I walked past was the old Port Chalmers School.  There has been a school at Port Chalmers since 1856 on various sites.  This school building has been turned into a home.

 

I walked past the memorial to where the local Ngāi Tahu sold the Otago block to the New Zealand Company in 1844.

I have often driven past this large tree that has grown beside the road.  The footpath goes around the tree and it is obviously a notable tree but there was no plaque or sign to say why. 

 

The bus stop at Port Chalmers is painted to match the suburb with a boat, the harbour and Mt. Cargill as the main features. 

I walked past three interesting letterboxes today.  The house shaped letterbox was similar in shape to the house that it belonged to and the castle letterbox looked nothing like the house that it belonged to.  I thought the anchor letterbox was very appropriate for the home it belonged to - near the sea.

 

And finally, below is the map of the streets that I have walked in Port Chalmers and Careys Bay as well as Sawyers Bay and Roseneath. 
 

 Distance walked:  10.9 km         Walking time  2 hr 3 mins    

Total distance: 960.5  km          Total walking  179 hr 11 mins 

Day 115 Long Beach & Purakanui

While I haven't finished walking the streets in Port Chalmers yet, I headed over the hill from the port to walk the streets in the small suburbs of Long Beach and Purakanui.  I walked 12 streets today.

1549. Beach Road
1550. Mihiwaka Road
1551. Driver Street
1552. Baird Street
1553. Bay Road
1554. Watkins Street
1555. Mopanui Street
1556. Derdan Street
1557. Boundary Street
1558. Ridge Street
1559. Crescent Street
1560. Hill Street

Long Beach is a small coastal settlement within the Dunedin City boundary.  The beach, itself is 2.4km long and is a popular swimming beach as it is seldom affected by large swells or rips. The township of Long Beach is hemmed in between the beach and rocky bluffs or swampy farmland. 

There are around 100 houses in Long Beach with most being crib/holiday homes and the whole area has a lovely peaceful feel as it is one of the few areas that I have walked that doesn't seem to be growing with new houses. 

 

During my walk around the streets of Long Beach, I walked past the lagoon that is a popular place for children to canoe.  Today it is looking like it is full of water weeds but still very pretty. 

 

After walking the streets of Long Beach, I headed over the hill to walk the streets of Purakanui.  While Long Beach is flat walking, Purakanui is mostly hill walking with narrow and windy streets.

Purakanui is at the head of an inlet that is sheltered making it a good place to kayak.  The road goes down to the waters edge and on a calm day, it is a beautiful place to walk with fantastic views of the the inlet.

 

As I walked around the edge of the inlet, I was rewarded with great views looking towards Mopanui (the hill in the middle of this photo).  On the other side of Mopanui is the Orokonui Ecosanctuary.  The Ecosanctuary is a special piece of land that has been fenced off with a predator fence and has been turned into a giant aviary where the birds can fly in and fly out but while in the sanctuary they are protected and can breed.  

I really enjoyed my walk around the edge of the inlet as the views kept changing and around each turn gave me a chance to stop and see the hidden places that are not obvious at first glance.  This was a beautiful place to be. 

 

As I walked around the corner, I was able to see this historic 140 year old cottage right on the edge of the Purakanui inlet.  I was also able to see other steep streets that I would be walking. 

But before I reached those steeper streets, I had a great walk around the inlet where the views just kept getting better.

 

I couldn't resist taking photos as the view kept changing.  There are a number of boat sheds along the edge of the inlet making for a very picturesque walk. 

 

Eventually though, I had to leave the inlet and walk up the hill.  While the walking became harder, the views gave me a good reason to stop. 

 

While the houses are perched on the side of a hill, they all have amazing views. Some of the houses are quite far up the hill, while others are very close to the waters edge.

One of the streets that I walked down had this sign at the top.  It was quite an appropriate sign as the street was narrow and there was no where to turn a vehicle around.

This is the first time that I have seen this sign.  I didn't see any cats at all during my walk today but there must be at least one in the area.

 

During my challenge to walk every street in Dunedin, I have walked past many seats that are placed in some beautiful spots.

 

I walked past a couple of interesting letterboxes today.  I particularly liked the one with the garden growing on top of it. 

Distance walked:  7.3 km         Walking time  1 hr 22 mins    

Total distance: 949.6  km          Total walking  177 hr 08 mins