Westmere Walkway – Wanganui Walk

There is a weird phenomenon where we often forget to do the things that are close to us. I guess it’s that we feel that those things will always be there and that there is always something better to be doing outside of our home towns.

This means that a lot of things we always say we want to do ‘one day’ never make it into the memory bank as they never get done. I’d highly recommend taking a note of all the things in your home town that you have been meaning to do and then start crossing some of them off.

The Westmere Walkway in Wanganui is one of those things I’d always meant to do but never gotten around too it.

 It was our one year birthday for Wanganui Bootcamp last week so to celebrate we decided to tackle the Westmere Walkway in Wanganui with a group of Bootcampers.

I’ve always been a huge fan of getting out and about and exploring our country, especially on foot. There is something about getting out into the fresh air and getting away from the world and the technology which has become such second nature to us all.

During the Westmere Walkway you are walking over farm land which means that there will likely encounter some stock on the track at some point or another, just continue walking as they will just stare at you or move out of the way before you get to them. Having stock on the track does mean that you do need to watch your footing as the hoofs from the cows make dents into the track.

Unfortunately while the track is well formed, it would not be suitable for a stroller given the nature of the farmland you are walking over. You are literally walking across a working farm, a local farmer has generously opened up this portion of his farm to those who want to walk through and experience it’s beauty.
The Westmere Walkway walk has a large hill over farm land at the start and then continues along the ridges which is flat for a decent chunk of the walk. The walkway then descends downwards and then at the very end climbs back slightly to end at the same place you started. You can also take a detour near the end so that you end up at Matipo park.

I would say that the Westmere Walkway would be suitable for most fitness levels, just watch your footing and take breaks when required. The track is around 5km and all of the documentation I had seen prior to walking it stated that it would take around 1.5hours. Our group did it in about 1 hour 15 minutes and this included a decent amount of stopping and checking out the views, the gravesite (yes actually!) and generally chatting along on our walk.

Directions

• Park in the Save Mart Car park on Kelvin Street, Wanganui
• Look for the big metal gate (pictured at the top of this post) with the words ‘Westmere Walkway’
• Follow the white posts along the whole track
• Distance/Time – Around 5km, approx. 1.5 hours at a leisurely pace.

Which walk(s) in your area have you been meaning to get too? – Leave us a comment and let us know, we love hearing from you!