Saturday, February 2, 2013

Rediscovering Our Karori Park

When we landed in Wellington, 1988; our new found friends took us to Karori and we rented our first home there.

Four years later, because of my new job we moved to Singapore.

When we returned after four years, we ended up in Karori again!

But this post is about the Karori Park!  A beautiful park that all these years we are living here, we went there LESS THAN a dozen time! Shocking!

A rare moment in 1999 when we went walking our beagle at the Karori Park


Me and Chino at Karori Park, 1999.

A cricket match at Karori Park, February 2008.

Recently we decided to take a walk at "our" park and got a pleasant surprise!

The Karori Park we knew is now bigger and more beautiful than we remember!

What we did not know was Wellington City Council has spent $4.1 million upgrading Karori Park. The park is now Wellington’s largest sports field and flat, open recreational space.

Running and walking tracks around the circumference of the park, one round is a kilometer long.

Part of the park is surrounded by native forest and bush. Notice the 70 cars car park.

The club house and the Karori Park Cafe.

Spending quality family time at Karori Park.

You can jog, cycle or even get a free work out on the two outdoor cross trainer in the park!

Properties overlooking the Karori Park, understandably; are primes... those boxy town houses cost $500,000 NZ a couple of years ago!

 According to the Wellington City Council...

Improvements to the park include:
  • extensive plantings
  • an all-weather perimeter track
  • pavillion toilets
  • improved drainage
  • upgraded soil and turf quality
  • enhancements to Karori Stream and nearby culvert
  • 70 onsite car parks.
The Council reckoned because of the upgrade, Karori Park is able to host regional and national sporting events. Up to now the lack of a suitable venue has meant Wellington has been unable to host such events.

There is also a mountain bike track next to the park.

We decided from now on we shall make more use of the park, after all; part of our yearly council rates payment go to the maintenance of the park anyway ;)

1 comment:

heather said...

wow! That`s a nice photo! it captures the essence of the wide open spaces in that part of Wellington. I like the mist/fog in the background..quintessential Karori!