Ōtukaikino

Ōtukaikino Wetland has a 1.2km boardwalk loop which takes you right out into the swamp.  It’s a short walk, only 15 to 20 minutes but there’s funky seating areas along the way and plenty of bird watching for those who are interested.  The boardwalk and pathways are ideal for buggies or wheelchairs.  The fairly inconspicuous entrance to the carpark and walk is off Main North Road, between Chaneys Corner and the Belfast end of the Northern Motorway.  We really enjoyed it and went round twice to make it longer (and accommodate sleeping babies). 

Cracroft

 

We did this walk in the opposite direction from the description in the booklet, but that seemed to make for easier walking as we were going down the couple of fairly rough slopes rather than up.  We started at the old stone house community centre (carpark entrance is first left on Worsley’s Rd) and went through its grounds to Shalimar Dr and down to Cashmere Rd.  There is a path on the right before Cashmere Rd which leads straight up to Bengal Dr, but we decided to avoid its steps.  The walk up Bengal Dr was vigourous but not too steep.  At the end of Bengal is a small lane (marked ‘private’) called Sasaram, which leads to a flight of concrete steps, which we carried the buggies down. From there a path leads down through a woodland area to Princess Margaret Hospital.  Well formed gravel tracks lead off to the right and left to residential areas while the track down is rather more muddy and rutted (this being the section we were glad not to push up).  We diverted along the path leading to Delhi Pl before turning back and enjoyed good views of the city.  The path down passes Cracroft Cavern and then widens and bends off to the left leading back to Cashmere Rd. We instead bumped down some steps into the hospital grounds and took a good gravel path to the corner of Cashmere and Hackthorne, where Coffee Culture is conveniently located! The way back to the carpark can be made more pleasant by turning off Cashmere Rd early and following the path through Worsley’s Reserve. We missed that but it looked nice!

Overall a very pleasant walk – good views, posh houses to peer at and a good cafe at the end.  The flight of stairs and the fairly steep rough section of track make it one for the more intrepid buggy pushers though.

Victoria Park

The Taiwhairaunui Trail in Victoria Park is designed for wheelchairs so it’s great for pushchairs. It goes through lovely bush and has a couple of neat platforms built around trees. We also carried on up the Harry Ell trail to the Sign of the Kiwi (rest stop with cafe). Most of the trail was fine for mountain style buggies, but there are a few spots with rough stone steps where it took both of us to get up or down safely. We had a lovely sunny winter’s day for our walk so the views were stunning.

Mona Vale and Riccarton Bush

We started at Riccarton House. The house has tours and Taste Restaurant and its grounds include a historic cottage and fenced remnant of kahikatea forest. The bushwalk takes about 10 minutes. Getting buggies through the double gates (to keep predators out) is a little tricky but managable. To the west the grounds exit to Ngahere St. We then followed Totara, Kahu, Tui and Weka St which are full of both old and new houses and gardens well worth a squiz! Across Straven Rd is Royds St, at the end of which is a path into a small park which has an aging playground. The park opens onto Harakeke St, at the end of which is another path which leads out onto Fendalton Rd. It is only a short walk eastwards along Fendalton to the entrance to Mona Vale. The driveway runs alongside the Waipara Stream with good views of more impressive houses and gardens. Mona Vale Homestead has an excellent cafe downstairs. There is an outdoor area which has space for buggies (and where you don’t need to feel so self conscious about noisy little people) and they provide table service. They have drinks, muffins etc as well as menu items and the price is very reasonable considering the upmarket atmosphere. To get back to Riccarton House from here there is pedestrian access across the railway line to Matai St West and then along the edge of the Christchurch Boys’ High grounds to Kahu Rd.

This walk had a great mix of urban, natural and park settings. It is fairly long – about and hour and a half, but with two cafe options and a playground en route it can easily be broken up if required.

Barnett Park

We set off with high hopes of taking the track from Barnett Park in Redcliffs up to the caves. However, we decided after battling for a while along the bumpy, narrow, sheep dung littered track that this was a route for babes in backpacks rather than buggies and abandoned the plan. On the plus side there is ample parking (off Main Rd just after Moncks Spur Rd), toilets and a modern playground at the park – probably a good spot for kids beyond the buggy stage. A map and more information are available from the CCC. Barnett Park is on bus route no. 3 – check metroinfo for details.

Sumner

The Sumner esplanade is perfect for strolling – a wide sealed path runs along the top of the sea break from Cave Rock to a children’s paddling pool and playground and toilets. Plenty of cafes and ice cream stops nearby! Take bus no. 3 (see metroinfo for details) or there’s parking along the Esplanade, often more spaces towards the Scarborough end. The only access challenge is a few steps which need to be climbed to get onto the path. About half an hour’s worth of walking.

Curletts Reserve

Our first walk was Curletts Reserve. It was a dewy morning and the long grass was very wet. So apart from sodden shoes, it was a pleasant walk with lots of open space, native planting and birdlife. There is easy access and a playground en route.  Suitable for offroad style buggies only as it passes though grassy areas as well as more formed paths. More information on the walk and a map are available from the Christchurch City Council. The Reserve is accessible from Templetons Rd – there’s ample parking or you can take bus 7 or 13 (see metroinfo
for more detail)