Walkway Combo

After a lazy week I decided it was time for some decent exercise, on my Walkway "Combo" of the Palmerston North city walkways on the Massey side of town.

The distance was 9.7km according to Strava, and you can see I had a few decent bits of climbing.

I started by parking my car near the bridge, then walked across the Manawatu River. There'd been a few unexpected spits just before I left home, but fortunately the clouds were only threatening, and didn't lead to any real rain until well after I had finished walking.

There are a few pedestrian/cyclist underpasses along the route, and they've been painted with an interesting mix of designs. Only one has any signs of graffiti over it at present.

It mostly looked wintry along the way, but there were a few remnants of autumn to be seen. 

I love the little bridges that cross over the Turitea Stream. 

There's quite a bit of kawakawa- pepper tree- in the bush near the stream.

And where some branches had been cut near the track, it revealed this beautiful design inside.

After the flat start to the walk, there was a bit of climbing to do. I always try to show you how steep it is, but often fail to convey what hard work it truly is.... It's my aim in life to perfect my ability to convey steepness properly!

Once the first bit of climbing was done with, there were some good views of the hills and ranges in the distance- through these winter trees.

There were still a few signs of the colour of autumn around.

Although the pathways are not too far away from busy roads, it all feels very rural.

This little lake is always a favourite view. The skies looked quite dramatic overhead today.

Another little rural tidbit.

More drama in the skies, at the top of the walk near Pacific Drive, looking out towards the Ruahines.

Here's another attempt to show 'steepness'. 

This is on the route mostly downhill near Summerhill Drive, back towards the bridge.

Gorse in flower

From the track, in places you can see back to Summerhill Drive. Against this lamp post is a memorial to a former colleague, Jocelyn, who was killed while riding her cycle up the hill early one morning. So very sad.

Back down on the flat is this magnificent totara tree, in paddocks not far from the river.

It was a great walk and really woke up my muscles.  These walkways give a great opportunity for some hill climbing in a mostly flat city on the floodplains. Will have to do it again sometime!