Weekend in Palmy

This weekend was a Palmy stay-cation... Saturday saw me walking along the 'far end' of the river pathway for a change, from the carpark by the motor camp, down just past Waitoetoe Beach. It was 5.2km Strava tells me, so a good stretch for the legs.

 The water in the river was flowing quickly and it was quite full after recent rain, carrying plenty of sediment.

 The path had a good smattering of walkers on it, many of them with dogs. With the black skies ahead of me, I was expecting to encounter rain somewhere along the way- but I was lucky.

 There was a new sculpture acknowledging the history of the Rangitane people in this locality. The plaque told of a nearby lagoon which was used for fishing, but that has long been drained.

 Across the river along the other bank, you can see evidence of the new shared path they are constructing, that will mean people are able to cycle/walk all the way out to Linton on a separated path. I am so happy these paths are being developed, and I am sure I will be out on my bicycle more often again soon!

This side-track leads down to Waitoetoe Beach, which seems like a peaceful place albeit a bit on the wild side. Today my eye was drawn to the darker layer in the cliff face, and I wondered whether that dated from a distant volcanic eruption, or how else it might have been formed.

The track continues to come out near Panieri Park, and there is a toilet block there if you want to use it- wharepaku.

 In this photo you can see the pile of limestone chips that is ready to be laid on the track on the other side of the river.

Today I had a quick expedition downtown and wandered in part of the Square. This blue building is Square Edge, and was the PNCC building in a former life. It had a gentler colour scheme for many years, with a beautiful mural on it. I was sad to see that disappear, and it took me some time to accept this new, more vibrant colour scheme. But I actually appreciate it now, and it does look good with blue skies behind.

 Right next door is All Saints Church. This is currently closed until they do major earthquake strengthening. It has a similar brick construction to church buildings that failed in the Christchurch quakes, and we have a large chance of a similarly large quake centred near here one day.

 And just to finish off, here is a winter tree in the Square. The skies might be blue, but the air was somewhat chilly, and despite a 'delayed arrival', it is definitely wintertime here now.

Arrivederci from a Palmy winter!