Plimmerton is a small town about 30 minutes by train or car up the coast from Wellington and it is where I had been staying while visiting Wellington. The hostel scene in Wellington itself is pretty apalling – poorly kept, expensive and most important to me – none had free parking. So I was relegated to the outskirts, but that wasn’t a bad thing at all. Plimmerton, and the hostel I stayed at, were fantastic.

Like pretty much anywhere in New Zealand, Plimmerton offered quite a few walking options (more than 25 different short to long walks!). As the weather turned fine one afternoon (though still biting cold), I headed up the hillside behind the town and started walking. It didn’t take long to get away from the houses.

The tops of the hills still had the odd cow station…or horse paddock.

A pair of young fluffy horses were happy to come over and say hello.

At the end of the hike I was dropped back down to the bay, a very pretty scene with a nice walk back to Plimmerton.

And back to my hostel (the Moana Lodge). A large converted house, this was a cozy stay. The owners even made an excellent roast dinner for everyone one night!