Goal Achieved

Monday 15 December 2014

Solo

Route: Ngaio Shops to Awarua St, up Bells Track to the Skyline. Climb to top of Mt Kaukau and back down via Simla Cres track. Return to Ngaio.

View to top of Bells Track from lower Awarua St

I've been meaning to get up Kaukau for a couple of months now, but events had continually conspired against me. Between toddler-at-home days, sickness and the awful weather we had in November, it looked like I wasn't going to manage it before Christmas.

Bells Track

The weather report for today was glowing - calm and warm. Awesome. I know from past experience that a light breeze around the suburbs means a bluster at the top of the hills, while still here is not still at the top. So after doing a chunk of our Christmas shopping in the morning, I headed off.

I opted to be a little lazy, and parked my car at Ngaio shops to save the 10 minutes walk each way. At the end of the walk I was so rediculously glad of this forethought! Whipping through Cummings Park at about 12:45, the climbing started almost immediately.

Traffic was quiet as I started up Awarua St, although there was a random surge of cars going past when I was nearly at the top. By the time I got to the top, I was incredibly glad that we had opted not to buy the house up there that we looked at the same day we saw our current place. I was also really hot, and realising that I probably could have left my jersey at home.

At the Skyline Walkway

The sign indicated half an hour to the Skyline Walkway, and 75 minutes to Mt Kaukau. It was 1pm. My friend Louisa had done a 7km loop up here and back in 1hr 45, so I thought perhaps the times were a little exaggerated.

Final climb to the top

It was a long, slow climb up the hill. I made it to the Skyline in about 17 minutes, and I thought I was pretty slow (and stopping frequently, both to admire the view, and to rest). I continued what seemed to be ever upwards towards Mt Kaukau, standing at the bottom of the final grunt to the transciever at 1:45, and making it to the top at just on 2pm.

View to Tappy

I spent a few minutes sitting underneath the viewing platform, trying to cool down a little from the heat, and watching the herd of cows that were hanging around, seeming pretty docile, but huge and seeming slightly threatening none-the-less.

I toyed with the idea of going around behind the transciever to actually bag the trig at the proper top of the hill, but decided against it in favour of getting home for a cool shower.

A quick mission down to Simla Cres (which actually seemed to take ages, and every time I looked down to where I was headed, it looked forever away), and then a whip along Khandallah Road, and I was stopping at the dairy to buy an icecream, before being back at the car just before 2:45.

So, just under 2 hours, including breaks, just under 6.5km travelled. Total climb 317m.