ANZAC Day and Sinclair Head

Bunkers on Sinclair Head

Having been awake since 4am I decided that there was really no excuse not to attend the Dawn Service, so I did. A 40 minute service starting at 6am, I was home in plenty of time for a coffee and breakfast!

Keeping with the theme of ANZAC Day, we headed in to Wrights Hill in Wellington, arriving to a full carpark just 15 minutes after the opening time of 10am. We met up with Richard and Viv for a tour of the World War II gun emplacements and tunnels. Unfortunately all the guns were sold for scrap after the war, but there is one replica barrel to show the size of them. Quite an amazing and sobering underground complex with radio room, plotting room, and for each of the guns a powder room and ammunition store.

It was nearing mid-day by the time we had finished our tour of Wrights Hill, time to eat. Fish & Chips on the beach at Island Bay. It sounded like a good idea, but the reality was lots of wind-blown sand in the chips!!

We then drove around to Owhiro Bay and picked a place to park. On another ANZAC Day themed activity, we were off to visit the observation bunkers at Sinclair Head. I had seen a track mentioned on a mountain biking website, but had never actually been up or down it. The track was also on the official map for the area. BUT the entrance to the track was very cleverly disguised in behind a bach. We initially walked a long way past it, I explored a "possible" route up the cliff, and we saw a few seals lying around on the rocks. Backtracking I had a hunch and found the track entrance.

Heather and Viv making the climb,
Richard stopping for a photo.

Everyone else seemed to initially have a few misgivings as the track was steep, at times requiring climbing up small steep sections, and also followed a creek at times. Before long we were out in the open, heading across farmland in the sunshine. Everyone now declared that the initial section of track had been fun!

Turning left/south we visited the observation bunkers. A lovely place to be on a sunny day, but would be absolutely miserable to be holed up there for hours on end on a cold and wet winter's day. Today, though, the views were spectacular across to the South Island and out through Cook Strait to the east. There was also a spectacular view of the very steep hill that we needed to climb on our way out!

View across to the South Island

Our initial plan had been to head to the top of Te Kopahou, then on to Hawkins Hill and out via the Tip Track. But the afternoon was advancing and a better plan seemed to take the track that turned right and down halfway up Te Kopahou, climb up the other side and exit at Red Rocks. This brought us to another new track that twisted and turned its way down to the baches where we had first started. From there just a few km walk back to the cars.