Wellington hill walks: Mt Kaukau

Wellington is known for many things, its hills being one. There are many hill walks in the region where hard slog is rewarded with fantastic views. I’ve been thinking of making my way around them over the next few months to string together a blog series. A good way to exercise both the creative and physical self at the same time.

Last month Mike and I took his boys over to the suburb of Khandallah to walk up Mt Kaukau (pronounced like cow cow but without the ‘w’). At 445m, Mt Kaukau is the highest point overlooking Wellington Harbour. It’s the most prominent high landmark in Wellington, in part due to the >100m tall television transmitter mast at the top.

I used the opportunity to test taking and editing photos with my iPhone. I adore the versatility of that device and it may well have made my compact camera redundant.

There are two main routes up the hill: more steep and less steep. With the children in mind – honest – we chose the latter.

Anyhoo off we go…

Mike and boys ready to go at the bottom of the trail

It's a beautiful walk up through the bush

Flynn, dwarfed by his surrounds

There are lots of trails so the occasional sign is useful

Perfect location for a quick rest, the mast poking up in the distance behind

Views over suburbia into Wellington Harbour

Lacking the knowledge of its proper name I shall call this 'purple flower'

Near the top of the tree line

Almost there

Near the top, looking back along an old fenceline

A boy's shadow having a drink on top of the lookout

Looking toward the Makara coast. Nice spot for a picnic.

The Kordia transmission mast

Boys in a tree

On the return trip. Flynn, such a laggard on the way up, was the complete opposite on the way down

Light patterns on the trail

The tip of a fern frond catches the sun

Tree shadows in the carpark

While not being that long a walk, we nonetheless felt very deserving of an ice block so went over to the Khandallah shops. The suburb and many of its streets have names with an Indian flavour. Khandallah, meaning ‘resting place of God’, got its name from the 1880s homestead of an army officer who had been stationed in India. I’m not sure how far the India theme carries through other parts of the suburb but I did like these.

Elephant tiles in the footpath at the Khandallah shops