Napier ramble, Wednesday 8 July 2026
Banner Photo: The view of Marine Parade
Wednesday’s tramp was to have been to Tutira walkway and Waipatiki Beach, but with only three names on the list plus a poor weather forecast, I had a lightbulb moment, decided to stay in town and do Bluff Hill instead.
After texting Sue and Selina, who thought this was a great idea, I rummaged around and found the directions and map from previous trips. We met on Coronation St at 8.30am, making Chaucer Rd steps our first climb of the day.
Travelling along the southern side of the hill, we reached Bluff Hill lookout a bit after 10am, had a rest and took in the view. It was partly cloudy with a cool southerly breeze so we didn’t linger long. We then travelled along the sunny northern side, arriving back at Coronation St around 11.30.
The view north to the estuary
There are few flat sections on this walk; it’s either going up or down, steps, road or pathways. We did nine lots of steps up, six lots of steps down, plus several roads up and down! It was mostly new territory for Selina, but not for Sue, who told us who lived where.
We admired the older stately homes and peered down long driveways, sometimes wondering how you’d get a vehicle up or down some of the steeper ones.
An early lunch/coffee at Bellatino’s Kitchen rounded out a very pleasant morning.
Walkers: Sue Martin, Selina Chilton and reporter Alison Greer
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