Climb Mt Victoria to see NZ Christmas Flowers at Waitangi Park

Summer has finally arrived in the Wellington city. After days of rain and wind, I am able to get out of the house and see the Christmas flowers this weekend. In New Zealand, during Christmas, Pohutukawa flower, also known as Christmas flowers, blooms everywhere which reminds me of the Vietnamese New Year. In my hometown, when spring comes, peach blossoms bloom on every corner of our village.

Therefore, since knowing about this flower, I always spend my free time on beautiful days to go for a walk around the city. Before, Christmas meant nothing to me. Even though I've been in NZ for a few years now, I don't feel like this holiday is for me. Recently, when looking at these Christmas flowers, not the Christmas trees or the Christmas decorations, I feel such a great joy. Perhaps the bright red Pohutakawa flowers are the connection between me and Christmas.

So let's join me today on my walk, following a mountainside route around Mount Victoria, through the Oriental Bay beachfront to see the beautiful Pohutukawa flowers at Waitangi Park, Wellington, NZ. Please keep in mind that it is possible to go straight from my place to the park but I want to make my weekend walk more enjoyable so I chose a longer route.

^{The red arrows showing my route along Mt Victoria - Photo taken from Pinmapple webiste}

I live in the centre of Wellington. From my apartment, it is only a 15-minute walk to Mt Victoria - a prominent hill 196 metres high and is a part of the Wellington town belt. This is where my partner and I often go hiking whenever we have a beautiful weekend. Mt Victoria has a few different routes suitable for all ages from children to the elderly. There is even separate and shared tracks for those who love mountain biking.

A special thing about this mountain peak is that this is one of the filming locations for Lords of the rings movie. Honestly, I went many times; however, I am not able to recognise the scene in real life with the movie. But this peak always gives me a sense of mystery and adventure every time I visit.

^{At the start of the walking track}

^{Take a shortcut through a pine forest}

We started with a shortcut through the big pine trees. I always enjoy walking in this pine forest because of the feeling of being sheltered by old pine trees. Look at the shape of each tree and imagine how much fun it would be if I had a small wooden house in the tree. I would be able to hear the birds singing all day, the rustling wind and the whisper of the green forest. Wow, just thinking about it makes me so happy.

Today we chose the trail along the mountainside instead of going straight to the top. Because it was midday when we climbed, the sun in NZ at that time was very harmful to the skin, so climbing along the small road will have a lot of cool shade.

This was a wise choice because I discovered a lot of interesting things. The first thing to mention is mini-games along the way. I think they are designed for children and adults to add fun to the walk.

^{Let's see if I can jump in between those logs}

^{Next is the balance contest - of course - my partner is only half way through}

^{I call this one "Easy but not easy"}

^{Found a mushroom on the way, so cute}

^{Lots of bay leaves along the route}

Next, I found bay leaves, a plant that can be used to make delicious stews. The way I went, bay leaves grew in clusters scattered along the way, I also found dill and kawakawa (pepper leaves). Great for dinner tonight because I'm going to make salmon sour soup. Bay leaves, I will dry them so that in winter I will cook stew.

After a short break, we arrived at Oriental Bay. Today is a beautiful day so quite a few people are sunbathing on the beach. There are not many people swimming yet because the seawater is still quite cold. This area is an artificial sea, it is quite small, so it only took us 15 minutes to go to the entire bay area.

And the final destination for today is Waitangi Park. This area is planted with a lot of Potuhukawa flowers and this is the most vibrant time of the year. I love looking at each flowering tree. When viewed up close, it is quite similar to the Barringtonia acutangula flower in Vietnam, a very beautiful flower.

^{Hooray the flowers are still so beautiful after so many rainy days}

It was a great day to see the Potuhukawa flowers. We are in the prime season and it is so beautiful. I am so glad we finally have a wonderful day as it had been raining for the last 4 weeks. From today, I will try to get out as much as I can to see these gorgeous flowers and also I need to improve my physical strength to climb the Tongariro Crossing - one of the great walks in NZ - in the New Year. Can't wait to do that incredible hike again.

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