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Queen Elizabeth Park

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stomps
stomps
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
4
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Editor Pick

Queen Elizabeth Park

  • May 1, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by stomps from Houston, Texas
Queen Elizabeth Park

When I looked at what to do in Paekakariki, Queen Elizabeth Park seemed rather interesting, although I wasn't sure if I would make it there because its a couple kilometers outside the town itself. However, walking on the beach made those few kms simple, and I found myself in QE Park without even realizing that was where I was going.

This park has a few interesting things about it. It is the last area of natural dunes on the Kapiti coastline, which makes for some interesting walks. I also saw signs for horseriding in the park as well, and there is fishing in the stream that runs through it, although I'm not sure about swimming, but there is always the beach (rather cold but at least free of any threat of sharks!). I saw plenty of people doing the typical park activities as well—children playing on the playgrounds and having picnics with their families.

Something interesting in the history of Queen Elizabeth Park: during World War II, New Zealand hosted foreign troops for the first time because of the Japanese threat. QE Park was the largest camp for these troops, and it held approximately 20,000 men! There are some commemorations of this event and its impact on the area in the park itself.

I did not come in the main entrance to the park, since I instead walked up a path from the beach, but the park still had rather a grand entrance from this direction. All of a sudden, the trees opened up to reveal paths leading in every direction, one of which was canopied with giant trees itself. This park really is quite massive and had so many different directions to go in that I had a hard time choosing; as it was, I only saw a very tiny portion of the park itself. I walked around the meandering paths for quite some time, just enjoying the day (which luckily still hadn't avoided rain). The scenery was really quite nice, like a mini botanic gardens on the beach. On a clear day, the views across to Kapiti would have been amazing and perhaps the sea would have been a slightly more inviting shade of blue!

After taking a few detours and wandering along a stream for a while, I found my way to the actual entrance to the park, on Wellington Road. Here, there were huge maps and signs describing the park and its history; the maps would have been useful to have seen before setting off in the park, but I still enjoyed my trip there. I definitely think its worth a stop into, especially if you are looking for a place to picnic on a long road trip.

From journal Paekaka-wha?

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