Walking the Skyline

Ooooooooow.

I just got back from walking the Skyline track with John. We didn't do the whole track, just the part from the Northland Cemetary to Mt Kau Kau then down to the train station in Khandallah, so there's a section around Karori and Makara that I haven't seen yet. I had a good time, but I'm rather tired now.

Statistics:
Length of full track: 12km
Length we walked: Dunno, exactly. 9ish? 10?
Time: Four and a quarter hours.
Hardest part: Walking up onto the track from the cemetary to Johnston Hill. There weren't any horrendously steep bits, it just kept on going and going and going. The section after that was a nice undulating amble over the top ridge of someone's farm, though, so it helped for getting my breath back.
Steepest gradient: Near Mt Kau Kau, but we were going down hill for those bits.
Difference in fitness between John and me: Lots.
Easter egg encounters: A victory egg at the top of Mt Kau Kau, and an egg encountered in passing that someone had left on a survey marker at the top of Mt Johnston. A libation for Easter, maybe?
New Foodstuffs 1: Kellog's All-Bran Baked Bars. Yummy, filling, and full of things that are actually good for you! (Bran and molasses, and things like that.)
New Foodstuffs 2: Nashis. A kind of fruit with a flavour and texture sort of like a cross between an apple and a pear. First bite was sweet and kinda bland, but with interesting tart flavours coming through near the centre of the nashi.
Highest point: Mt Kau Kau at 445m.
Second highest point: Johnston Hill at 360m.
View: Absolutely stunning. It's another reminder, actually, of how compact Wellington is. I don't know of many capital cities where you could stand in sight of the port on one side, and someone's farm on t'other, all at the same time.
The bacon sandwiches we had when we staggered home: Priceless

From The City To The Sea...

Well and so. Today, I bused down to the Beehive, met up with repton_infinity and walked home. Most of this was off-road, as someone in the Wellington City Council has percipiently observed that many of the parks in the central city are closely connected, and cannily provided a map to the walking tracks of same. (And put up some handy posts with mysterious looking yellow arrows as markers.)

And now I'm home. Phew, that was a long walk. Interestingly, I'm tired and sore, but not as much as I expected. I wonder how stiff I'll be tomorrow. Also, repton_infinity, who is lovely, has gone to collect fish & chips for dinner. Bliss.

For those who are interested in statistics:
Total time: 3 hours 18 minutes
Total distance: ~ 9km
Time to Te Aro: 1 hour 10 minutes
Distance to Te Aro: ~ 4.25 km
Time to Home: 1 hour 48 minutes
Distance to Home: ~ 4.75 km
Max Elevation: 130m (Top of the Botanical Gardens)
Secondary Max Elevations: 100m (Central Park and Macalister Park/Kingston)
Points of Interest: Beehive, Bolton St Cemetery, Botanical Gardens, Kelburn Park & University, Mount St Cemetery, Tanera Park, Central Park, Prince of Wales Park, Scottish Harrier's Hall, what looked like a sports stadium but neither of us were sure what it's called (EDIT: it turns out that it's boringly named Rugby League Park), Macalister Park, My House.
Point Where We Got Lost: The Scottish Harrier's Hall where the sign was a little misleading and we ended up on the road near Pearce St. Fortunately there was another track down the hill to Hutchison Road and we matched up again.
The Bit We Didn't Do: From My House to Island Bay. We've actually done that walk before, finding that one can do rather a lot of walking from just down the hill below My House to just up the hill from My House.
The Walk John Wants To Do Next: The Skyline Walk, ~ 15km.
The Walk I Want To Do Next: From John's House to the Brooklyn Windmill, estimated time ~ 1 hour
The Thing John Hasn't Noticed Yet: My hair is 8 inches shorter than the last time he saw me.

Dinner is here! Must go...