Walk through Wellington’s history
Queen
ueen Victoria’s statue seemed an appropriate starting point for me to set off on the new Commonwealth Walkway – even if the good queen lorded it over the British Empire well before it softened into the Commonwealth.
Connecting 32 significant monuments, parks, buildings and historic places, Wellington’s Commonwealth Walkway is the first in New Zealand and one of several in other Commonwealth countries.
I leave Queen Victoria proud on her plinth and walk towards the Basin Reserve past sundry automobile companies and a straggle of small shops.
The Basin Reserve is usually a swirl of traffic, so I approach it from the righthand side of this grand avenue and use a pedestrian crossing to reach the footpath that encircles the sports ground.
From here I brave the traffic and dash across to Government House where the new walkway was officially opened in
October last year by our new GovernorGeneral Dame Patsy Reddy, outgoing Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, Sir Anand Satyanand chair of the Commonwealth Foundation and Isobel Pepper of the Commonwealth Youth New Zealand executive.
They unveiled a bronze plaque engraved with Queen Elizabeth’s personal EIIR cypher. This was the last of the 32 markers to be embedded on the walkway which is 9km long. It might be advisable for walkers not to take on the traffic here to reach the Government House gates, splendid though they be -- you cannot see the House from here anyway. It’s closed to the public except on special occasions or by invitation.
Further round the Basin Reserve footpath, I take a short cut, find a gap in the traffic and run across to the walkway which now continues along Buckle Street and through the green swards of Pukeahu National War Museum Park. Prince Charles unveiled a Commonwealth Walkway marker here during his official visit to the park in November 2015.
The park is a special place. It provides a peaceful serene space around our War Memorial -- the Carillon, the Hall of Memories and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. I admire the striking red columns in the park representing Australia’s Outback which celebrate that country’s wartime role.
There’s a little way to go along Webb Street before you turn towards Brooklyn and up Nairn Street. Not far from the top of this steep street is Wellington’s oldest original cottage, the charming little Nairn Street Cottage with its oldtime garden beside it.
My small diagram-map, printed out from the internet, seems to show a loop back to the central city, but it’s not too clear and I lose the Commonwealth Walkway for a while, finding my own way down to the bucket fountain in Cuba Street. Here I find another C.M marker and set off again, on the official trail once more. (Improved maps and an app giving the background to the features on the walk will be provided soon).
The central-city section of the Walkway is familiar ground to me. I pass the beloved Town Hall, sadly still awaiting earthquake strengthening, and then the library – one of my favorite haunts in Wellington.
Further on is the Old Bank Arcade in that wonderful wedge building designed by Thomas Turnbull and occupied for many years by the Bank of New Zealand. Its glorious Victorian tiles are a pleasure to tread and admire. This lovely arcade has a mix of tempting boutique retailers and cafés.
I walk down Lambton Quay to Cable Car Lane which is still being renovated. A plaque here tells you that this was Wellington’s shoreline in 1840 – hence the ‘quay’ in Lambton and other nearby Wellington street names. I’m tempted to take the popular Cable Car up and back – always a delight - but resist and continue walking along Lambton Quay. Choosing one of the alleyways further on, I walk up to the Terrace and soon pass the Reserve Bank where there’s an unusual museum featuring New Zealand’s economic and banking history.
I continue towards Parliament. The buildings here give a potted history of our architectural style – the Beehive (quirky modern); Parliament House (Edwardian neo-classical) and the Parliamentary Library (Gothic Revival).
But I don’t make for Molesworth Street through the parliamentary grounds. I choose the footpath instead. For here, on the corner, is a little gem, marked by another Commonwealth Walkway roundel.
The Wai-Titi Landing was once a beach where waka (canoes) landed in pre-European times. Extensive reclamation has long since annihilated “the beach” but it’s only recently that it has been made into a commemorative area with impressive pillars that symbolise upturned waka.
It was here that the trail’s first marker was laid by former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, then-Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Director of the Outdoor Trust Jim Walker back in July 2015.
Up Molesworth Street I reach the grandiose National Library, marked by another C.W roundel in the footpath. I continue further up, around and down Mulgrave Street to Old St Paul’s. I pop in for a moment to bask in the feeling of peace and serenity this historic old church wraps around me.
The Wellington waterfront is always a joy to walk along with different boats moored there; kayaks being launched; the Len Lye water feature that never seems to be operating; the colourful piano that comes out on a sunny day for anyone to play; the majestic statue of Kupe, great Maori explorer and discoverer of Wellington Harbour and the Maori meeting house.
I’m fond of the wharewaka by the lagoon, also. It houses two splendid waka and has a roof designed to look as if a Maori cloak has been thrown over it.
Te Papa, the national museum, dominates this next part of the walk along the waterfront. I give a wave to the popular statue leaning over the water here which goes by the name of Solace in the Wind.
I turn away from the water soon after this point and return to my starting point at the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace -- Queen Victoria just up the road on her plinth.
Mission accomplished after some 9kms. I take two tired feet back home and put them up on the sofa.
P.S If you’re a visitor to the capital; have limited time for this walk and are tempted by the interesting features en route, then concentrate on the mid-city and waterfront sections. Start at Cuba Mall’s bucket fountain (every local can direct you there) -- its significance to the Commonwealth is tenuous but it’s a good starting point. Head for the Town Hall, Library, Lambton Quay and Thorndon. Then loop round and return to our wonderful waterfront where there are plenty of distractions. And so back to Cuba Mall and the bucket fountain again.