I really enjoy walks in New Zealand as we are lucky enough to live in such a beautiful country. A beautiful country where going for a walk you aren’t likely to encounter any animals that are out to kill you 😉
I had been wanting to do the Manawatu Gorge Walk for a long time now. As soon as I found out that the Manawatu Gorge Walk was being opened for the day, on the side that the train tracks run, I signed up straight away.
The gorge is only short 8-10km depending on where you get your information from. I believe that actual gorge is closer to the 8km mark whereas this walk included a little bit extra back to the Ashurst domain which would have taken us closer to the 10km mark.
Once a year the Lions club arrange for the tracks to be clear and trains non-operational for the purpose of opening the tracks up to walkers. I was very surprised at how many people there ended up being on the walk, but it didn’t seem crowded which was nice.
The walk was on rough and uneven ground across the train tracks and we were advised we must take a torch for every person who was completing the walk. The tunnels above being the reason for the torches.
The tunnels were pretty cool to walk through (both in temperature and because it is something you don’t do every day), and they were longer than I originally expected.
There were A LOT of bridges like the above bridge, which for someone who is terrified of heights was a bit of a mission to get over them all. Some of the bridges had little walkways on the side of them (like the one pictured), but you could still see down below. These bridges ended up not being too bad after I’d done a few of the bridges that DIDN’T have walkways.
You see, I’m not scared of many things but my fear of heights can be debilitating. I panic and begin to freeze up, which isn’t ideal when there is a big queue of people behind you.
Lucky I had Kyle in front of me and I just held on to his hands and focused on taking each step one at a time as there is no way I would have made it across those by myself.
Just when I thought we had gone over all the bridges, this monstrosity appeared right at the end of the track. I kid you not that was the longest few minutes of my life and because I was panicky I could only take little steps which made it take even longer.
At the end of the bridge we were given these cute little certificates too say we had completed the walk which was a nice touch.
I feel as though I definitely deserved that certificate after my poor body being shocked constantly! The walk ended up taking us a little over two hours which wasn’t too bad considering how slow I was on every single bridge and the uneven surface and stopping for photos slowed us down as well.
After we made it back to the car park we were greeted by the smell of a classic kiwi sausage sizzle to raise funds for the local school. We indulged in a sausage or two before making our way back to the car and heading into Palmerston North for a little bit of shopping before returning home.
Overall I really enjoyed the Manawatu Gorge Walk, despite all the fear I felt going over all of the bridges. I’m really glad I completed it, but know there is no way I would have completed it without Kyle helping me along all of the bridges.
As much as I enjoyed it, I probably won’t do it again. My poor hear probably couldn’t handle those bridges again! Next time I’ll try the Gorge Walk which goes up and over the hill and gives (what I imagine to be) a great view down into the Gorge and of the windmills.
Sounds like an interesting experience. I’m not a huge fan of heights either. I think the older I get the more things freak me out!! I’d love to do the Gorge Walk up and over the hill. When I was at school we biked the Rimutaka Incline. I actually fell off my bike and rolled down the side of the rimutaka hill, but luckily I landed in a bush and not at the bottom!!
Oh my goodness, I’m the same. I’m sure I was way braver when I was younger! Aww that sucks about falling off your bike – maybe its time to give it another go?
I did the gorge railway walk a couple of years ago, I found it slow going having to look where my feet were going, but enjoyed it. I liked the tunnels, & yes the bridges freaked me out too!
The gorge track walk is beautiful, I’d highly recommend it. I live just down the road at the Ballance end, & use it for training. I’ve done the whole thing 4 times, usually just go in for a bit then back out. At the Ashhurst end there’s the Tawa loop walk which is a good alternative to the whole 10km.
It definitely is a lot slower than a normal walk, but so beautiful!
Glad someone else was freaked out by the bridges, it felt like I was the only one on the walk!
I will have to look up the Tawa Loop!
This looks like such an amazing walking track! I would love to do it one day. I used to live in Palmy and driving through the gorge was one of my favourite things to do 🙂
I had no idea you used to live there! You should definitely give it a go one year!