Saturday evening we went for a drive and ended up at the entrance to Kaitoke Regional Park, north of Upper Hutt. The plan had been to go for a walk but we left it too late so we had revised to checking out the place in preparation for a visit Sunday morning. The park turned out to be closed anyway and on the other side of the road barrier there was a car with four woman inside, stuck on the wrong side of the barrier and apparently locked in. Keryn got out and established the barrier was locked with a padlock while I parked the car. When I checked the padlock I found it unlocked so it was a simple matter to unhitch the barrier and let the stuck people out. Good deed for the day I guess.
Keryn did some baking Saturday night and the trail slice was iced before we set out Sunday morning. The weather wasn’t the best, a misty rain coming down and cooling the already not warm air. Still, a walk would soon warm us up. We were only heading on a short walk anyway, and hour and half or so.
We started walking the Swingbridge Track but it was only a couple of minutes before we diverted to have a look at the spot where Rivendell was filmed in the Lord of the Rings movies. There were a few signs explaining what was here during filming and a platform set up for people to stand on and recreate the Legolas hero shot (see an example about a third of the way down on this page). The glade looked nice for a picnic but the passing of LOTR tourists was obviously having an effect as parts of the path were fenced off so the ground and plants could recover.
Back on the main path we walked a short way further before taking another diversion down to the river. We took a few photos at the riverside and by the track on the way back to the main path.
Photo by Brendon & Keryn
Beside the Hutt River
Photo by Brendon & Keryn
Greenery
We took more photos, well I did and Keryn had to retire her camera as it has started playing up with the screen covered in purple lines that also appear on the shots. The path took us past an old water filtration building, over a tall concrete bridge and then back towards the car park following the river again.
Photo by Brendon & Keryn
The Hutt River enters a gorge
Photo by Brendon & Keryn
Fungi beside the path
We finished at the swing bridge, crossing over past a group of woman making very tentative steps as the bridge moved. We’ll definitely be back for longer walks and this will be a good place for picnics as well when the weather improves.
Photo by Brendon & Keryn
Keryn on the swing bridge
