For a pleasant Sunday excursion away from the traffic and the fast pace of civilisation, a walk around the Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbour is not to be recommended. The setting however is nice enough and, for that reason, that's where I thought I'd go for a wander this past Sunday afternoon, July 18th, 2004.

To avoid the Paremata roundabout (where 20-minute delays for northbound traffic are not uncommon), I decided to drive via Whitby and park at Browns Bay, the spot indicated by the big arrow on this map. It was 2.02pm when my canine companion and I set off on foot in the direction of Pauatahanui, anti-clockwise around the harbour. My intention was to go as far as I could be bothered going, and if that meant a complete 'circumnavigation' of the inlet, then so be it, and hopefully that wouldn't take more than 2-3 hours.

Most of the way to the small settlement at Pauatahanui (at the head of the harbour) we were able to walk along the rocky foreshore, away from the road. If the tide had been in I'm sure we would have had to use the road a lot more. And knowing what I now know, it would have been preferable to have walked clockwise around the harbour - facing the oncoming traffic. At the start of the journey I wasn't aware that the roads in these parts have very little space for pedestrians, and I hadn't given any thought as to the 'more sensible' route to take. Suffice to say that for anyone contemplating walking on any of the roadway alongside the harbour, go the opposite way to what I did!

I noticed lots of birds as we neared the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve. More so than the time I assisted with a school outing whose very purpose was to observe the wildlife - but on that occasion didn't get to observe a whole lot. Can't tell you the actual types of birds I saw other than to say it's a reasonably safe bet they were seabirds. But I did spend some time taking a few photos, a couple of which are shown below.

Being a sunny Sunday afternoon, the road on the northern side of the harbour was probably busier than usual with people out for a drive. As the terrain didn't allow us to travel 'off-road', we walked on the right side of the road (facing the traffic) when there was room enough to do so, but mostly there wasn't. So back to the left side (the 'harbour side') of the road we went, and that meant - whilst we had to stay clear of traffic racing up behind us - that we were still able to enjoy looking out across the water, an aspect which probably had more appeal for me than it did for my four-legged friend.

Having spent more than 50 minutes on the roadway, it was very pleasant indeed to leave the traffic behind as I headed onto the Camborne Walkway. It took considerably less time to reach the boatsheds than what the sign told me it would take, not that I was in a rush but that I suspect the times on those signs are sometimes based on how long it might take Granny using a walking frame. That's probably not the case, but that thought did occur to me at the time.

Past the back of the boatsheds, onto the sand at low tide, and within a few minutes we're crossing the Paremata bridge. Another fifteen minutes and we were back at Browns Bay and I must admit I was pleased to see Mr Whippy still there, two and three quarter hours after I'd originally left that spot. Both dog and master enjoyed a tasty treat, separate ones of course!

- Malcolm Sparrrow