It had been quite a number of years since I had done the Canon Point walkway. So when this walk appeared in the club schedule, I decided it was time I did it again and signed up to lead it. Early indications were that this was going to be a popular trip, however, in the last 3 days 5 out of the original 11 punters dropped out. So we were down to a total of 6 on the day; a more manageable number.
We arrived at the start of the walk in the Upper hutt suburb of Totara Park just before 10.00am on Saturday morning, and short time later we were on our way. The first part of the walk comprises largely of an easy up hill 4-wheel drive track. Vegetation over the length of the walkway is mainly regenerating bush, but also includes gorse and a bit of mature native bush at the south end. After reaching the Canon Point trig we stopped for a scrogin break and to admire the view. It was quite a nice spring day – warm, but a little overcast. We stayed here for a good 10 minutes. As I had previously lived in Upper Hutt, I was able to point out some of points of interest in the valley below us.
From the trig we continued north. There is a route known as the ‘Zig-Zag track’ which leads from the top directly back to the car park, but as this would make the walk a bit too short we carried on north to the Birchville resevoir. This part of the route is mostly down hill. We arrived at the resevoir in good time for lunch. The resevoir used to be the main water suppy for Upper Hutt. The dam is about 5 metres high and the water from the lake behind it cascades over almost its full width – surprisingly spectacular!
After finishing lunch we continued the circuit which ended with a short road walk back to the car park.
The Canon Point walkway is good outing if you don’t want to commit the whole day to a walk. It is only about half an hour from Wellington, and can be done in less than 3 hours (It took us a bit longer, but that included a couple of breaks and a leisurely pace). There are some good mountain biking trails in the area – you can get to Karapoti from Canon Point.