Trish Hopkins needs to walk to use up all her energy. Photo / Laurel Stowell
Walking has a wide range of benefits and it is a beloved activity among some people in Whanganui. Laurel Stowell finds out where's good to go for a stroll and what motivates those who keep at it.
We were allowed and encouraged to walk during lockdowns, only not too far from home.
Most of us don't have to think about how to walk. It frees up our hands to carry things and it allows our eyes and minds to wander.
A quick trawl through the internet brings up some walking facts: exercise makes the heart pump faster. It provides more blood and oxygen to the body - including the brain.
In the 1800s American writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau said in his journal: "Methinks the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
A study in California found that people who walk more feel more energetic rather than more tired, and they are also happier.
Walking on your own is one thing, but walking with other people adds a new dimension. Buddhists walk in their meditation, soldiers march in sync and right through history people with shared belief systems have undertaken long and arduous pilgrimages, walking together.
For David Scoullar, a life member of Wanganui Tramping Club and one of its trip planners, the social side of walking is the most important.
"I always consider that we are a social club that walks.
"I don't go in for solo walks. I like to have shared experiences in the bush and in the mountains, which I find quite uplifting," he said.
For Scoullar and fellow club member Basil Hooper, walking is also about exploring.
"I'm always looking for new ideas and new places to go. It's not only my job, it's my own personal interest - hence the Colenso crossing [in the footsteps of colonial missionary William Colenso] done in April this year," Scoullar says.
Hooper says he's an explorer, not a tramper, following in the footsteps of his great grandfather, the pioneer surveyor Joseph Annabell.
Age is curtailing his walking life, but the activity is still top priority when he has time away from his farm. As well as finding new places to walk, he likes to share them with others.
He was the main driver behind the Waitahinga Trails, a network of walking tracks the club developed.
They are a 45 minute drive from Whanganui and reached from Rangitatau East Rd. Their popularity has gone "way, way beyond" what Hooper envisaged.
He especially likes the large rimu trees on the trails' Rimu Walk.
"When I see them I think of the age and the miracle that they're still there."
Hooper is an advocate of public access to Whanganui's forest hinterland, using surveyed but unformed public roads shown on maps that can be found online at the New Zealand Walking Access Commission website.
Many are unmarked and pass through difficult terrain, and it takes "a bit of detective work" to find them.
Hooper sees enormous potential to develop these roads for the public.
"These are walking tracks waiting to happen," he said.
Newish tramping club member Trish Hopkins just has to walk in order to relax. She walks at least twice a day, taking her greyhound dog around the bridges and up to the Upokongaro cafe.
"I need to be active. I actually get quite stressed if I can't get rid of some of my energy," she said.
She likes getting to know the streets of the city, being out in fresh air and being greeted by people, and looks forward to overnight trips into bush and mountains with the club.
Getting exercise is a motivator for walker Bill Charnock, but the social side is important as well.
He played football for more than 20 years and was a committee member of the Wanganui Harrier Club.
Older now, he's one of the Neva Beans, a social walking group of about 20. In that group he's Neva Bean Prepared, and walks with others like Neva Bean Bossy, Neva Bean Wrong and Neva Bean Quiet.
They walk from 7.30 to 9.30 on Saturday mornings, finishing up with coffee at The Yellow House Cafe. Charnock walks with them after work on Thursday evenings. He tries to get in three decent walks a week, either with people or alone.
Some of the Neva Beans do walking marathons and half marathons. With a walking speed of 7km an hour, a half marathon of 21.1km takes about three hours for Charnock.
He's been away with the group to marathons in other towns, and some of the group have walked them overseas as well. Walking a marathon is more about doing his best than about finishing first.
"Walking is my escape. If I have a hard day in the office it's nice to get out and have a walk and clear my head, and it's my way of keeping fit."
The Neva Beans are a relaxed group, with no fees, no meetings and no office holders.
Whanganui has other walking groups that are more organised. One is Club Gold, organised by Sport Whanganui. Heather McGinniss is 81 and has been a member since 1999.
She retired then, aged 59, and decided she needed to keep active.
The Club Gold group walks for an hour at an average pace on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, starting from the Sport Whanganui building at Springvale Park and finishing there with a cuppa. Most of the walks are around town, and McGinniss chooses the routes.
The walkers, mostly women, form up in twos to walk on footpaths. One of their favourites is the new Te Tuaiwi pathway across St Hill St, linked with London, Liverpool and Grey streets.
They have explored suburbs like Springvale and College Estate while Whanganui East is a favourite.
"We admire everybody's nice gardens, and see all those new homes going up."
McGinniss feels guilty if she doesn't walk, and some of the ladies say their walk and cuppa are the highlights of their week.
The Whanganui i-SITE has a booklet of cycling and walking opportunities in Whanganui, as well as separate brochures. In town there are riverside walks from bridge to bridge, a short walk around Rotokawau (Virginia Lake), walks to the Durie and Bastia hill towers and the Westmere Walkway above Aramoho.
A bit farther out there's walking at Rotomokoia (Westmere Lake), Gordon Park, Paloma Gardens, Bushy Park Tarapuruhi and the Bason Botanic Gardens - and any amount of beach walking on the South, Castlecliff, Kai Iwi and Ototoka beaches.
Drives of up to 45 minutes will take you to the Ātene Skyline Track and Waitahinga Trails - both tramps rather than walks. There is also farm walking - with permission.
Further afield are the Egmont, Tongariro and Whanganui national parks with their tramping tracks, and the Tararua and Ruahine forest parks and Waitōtara Conservation Area.
For Scoullar the Ātene Skyline track, though done many times, is always enjoyable, and he said Rangiwahia Hut in Ruahine Forest Park is very reachable, even for families with young children.
"In town here, I like the walkways as well. The riverbank walkway is a gem.
"We don't want to be snobby or elitist as trampers. Anyone who takes up walking, even in their neighbourhood, we encourage that."
Riders and spectators in Whanganui are anticipating the start of the last race.