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Mr and Mrs Walking with Kids

Northern Walkway - Botanical Gardens to Johnsonville

Updated: Jan 24, 2022

‎Saturday, ‎16 ‎January ‎2021

Location: Cable Car in Upland Road, Kelburn, Wellington (we parked in the city and caught the Cable Car up - the kids loved it!)


This was another great day out, it's a similar walk to the Southern Walkway and City to Sea where you're exploring Wellingtons Green Belt. This time between the Botanical Gardens and Johnsonville.


We started in the Botanical gardens and walked north following the blue bollards, which was the responsibility of the kids (on reflection, we think it's great training for finding the orange triangles when tramping in the Tararua's).

There are beautiful panoramic views and a whole lot of exciting things to see along the way (check out this brochure before you go).

The day started out cloudy but then got really hot.

By the time we got to the bottom of Mt Kaukau everyone was so hot and tired we actually bailed and caught a train back to the city from the Khandallah Train Station - our kids are generally pretty tough so either it was a really hot day or the walk is harder than you'd think. We did wonder if we should have walked it the other way around so that we'd completed Mt Kaukau earlier in the walk.

A great walk but our family agrees we preferred the Southern Walkway (because of how beautiful it is) and City to Sea (because of how much there was to see and do along the way).


Age of Kids: Miss 6 & Master 8

Walking Time: 4-6 hours

Length: 14 km

Difficulty: Medium (or hard on a very hot day)

Wet Feet: No, although when it's been raining Trelissick Park would probably be a bit of a bog to navigate.

Amenities: We found at least 2 drinking fountains and toilets on the way as well as a dairy in Ngaio where we brought ice-creams.

Dogs: must be leashed

Be Aware: As mentioned above, starting at Kaukau would have been the better call.




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