Winter walks

 Winter is the best time of all to get out and walk - an escape from the four walls and that dozy interior phug, away from the fireside and heaters  .  Go out amongst the mist, the frost, and those dripping bare trees.  Feel the sharp cold on your cheeks, the wind at your back and slosh through puddles, even a bit of a shiver, awakens you from that winter apathy.  Experience the elements and nature and you will feel alive again!

The beauty of a damp misty morning in the Botanic Gardens in July

In Christchurch we don't know how lucky we are to have Hagley Park and Botanic Gardens so close to the centre of the city.  Our Victorian early settlers during the 19th century, brought with them english garden values to their new far flung home at the bottom of the world.  They had become aware of the importance of gardens, parkland, and open common land for the people, to the cities, and suburbs of England, to offset unhealthy, dreary industrial areas.  Clapham Common, Streathem Common and Hampstead Heath in London, to name just a few.    Every time I walk in Hagley Park I think of those english parks and commons, and thank those hardy 19thC. english settlers for their far seeing vision in allocating the central open spaces of Hagley Park so reminiscent of their homeland,  to our city for our people.    

By the time we have pulled those woolly hats down over our ears, drawn jackets closer around us to keep out the cold, and negotiated chilly wet pathways for a good hour or so, we are more than ready for the warmth and chat of the iconic Boatshed cafe, not to mention their consistently good hot coffee.

We have the Port Hills behind us, Hagley Park in the centre of the city, beaches to the east of us and the rib of the Southern Alps to the west,  beckoning to us from their snowy tops.  How many cities in the world can have such diverse environs? 
​And I am lucky to have my group of walking friends to meet at 9am either at the Park or up the hill, because it is that which motivates me in the dark of mid winter to get out of bed and get out amongst the elements.  Without them I know that I would still be tucked up in my warm bed, missing the drama of winter mornings.   

To see the mists rising from the river and the shafts of sunlight piercing the treetops on a winters morning, is something I wouldn't want to miss - not to mention those early pale winter daffodils that dare to brave the winter frosts

And what drama it is, to experience the mists rising from the river, the shafts of early morning light through the trees and the crunchy white frosts on the grass.

Around we go, past the Heritage Rose Garden, the roses so bare and twiggy in winter and perennials tall and frosted brown. Their colour might have gone but their height and structure still adds interest to a winter palate. Noticing and feeling the frost on the ground, before we go on through the daffodil woodland, so still and silent in the depths of winter with not a bright yellow daffodil to be seen.

​NEXT TIME - UP THE HILL AND AWAY FROM THE DAMP MISTY CITY - UP TO THE CLEAR BLUE SKIES AND UPLIFTING VIEWS TO BE SEEN FROM 'UP THERE' 

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