Sport Wellington Buggy Walk heads to Hutt Valley

Hundreds of buggies are set to stroll along the Hutt River in Upper Hutt on Thursday 4th September for Sport Wellington’s monthly Buggy Walk.

Sport Wellington Buggy Walks are a free event occurring on the first Thursday of every month. The walks take place at a different location every month and aim to provide parents and caregivers with the opportunity to discover some of the many buggy friendly walking tracks throughout the Wellington region.

This month’s walk is part of the Hutt Valley River Trail, a series of tracks and pathways that begin in Petone and follow the Hutt River along to Te Marua. Popular with walkers, runners and cyclists, the tracks pass through golf courses, play areas, swimming holes and fishing spots.

The Buggy Walk will begin at Poets Park which runs alongside a section of the Hutt River more famously recognised as The Great River Anduin in Lord of the Rings. Walkers will follow the river towards Moonshine Park, up into Trentham Park, through Bartons Bush and back along the stop bank.

Event organiser James King says the Sport Wellington team aim to host walks in a variety to locations throughout the greater Wellington region so everyone gets a chance to explore walks in their area. July’s walk was held at the Government House in Central Wellington and August’s walk at the Otaihanga Domain in Kapiti.

King is especially looking forward to the Poets Park walk and the chance to explore more of the Hutt Valleys landscape, “we are looking forward to showing our Buggy Walkers what the Hutt Valley has to offer.”

King says the past few walks have been a huge success with over 320 parents, caregivers and children in attendance at the July event. “Word must be spreading about the Buggy Walks as they seem to be growing in popularity, with a mixture of familiar faces and first timers. It’s really great to see more and more people keen to come along and get active with their young ones” adds King.

The walks vary in length and difficulty but will usually take 45 – 60 minutes to complete. With no registration necessary, everyone is encouraged just to show up and take part. Participants can also take advantage of free Caffé L’affare coffee and a BBQ, courtesy of Southern Cross Restaurant and Bar.