Tags

Feeds / Wellington Steps

This feed is published by Wellington Steps .

This feed is read by this Whakaoko subscription

Added on 22 Sep 2020. Last read 7 minutes ago.

To subscribe to this feed, enter the following location into your feed reader.

This feed currently contains the following newsitems (total count 22):

    • City to Sea Bridge – Civic Centre
      •     FIND THESE STEPS – From the CBD, in the Civic Centre, behind the Town Hall and the Library; from the Harbour, at the Whairepo Lagoon. The Boat Shed, to the right in the Whairepo Lagoon (Whaiepo is the Maori name for eagle rays who are considered the guardians of Lagoon), across from the Jervois Quay and the City to Sea Bridge and crossing the Quay to the Civic Centre.          

    • Los Angeles – Laurel and Hardy Steps
      •   Photo source: http://wikimapia.org/346038/Laurel-Hardy-the-Music-Box-steps#/photo/4121874   FIND THESE STEPS – Between 923 and 935 N. Vendome Street, Silver Lake. If you are visiting Los Angeles (one of the very best cities in the world) and you have the time, this is worth the time for a visit. All those steps and all that movie history. This episode is from the 1932 film The Music Box, with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and described wonderfully at the web site silentlocations.com. And occasional celebrations of the steps occur as a day long event.   Photo source: TCM.com

    • Queens Drive/Sutherland Road to View Road Steps
      •   FIND THESE STEPS – Between 254 and 256 Queens Drive at Sutherland Road and from the top at Numbers 7 and 19 View Road.   The Tsunami warning posted on the roadway nearby. The grand view of Lyall Bay from near the top of the stairs. You find a waiting octopus waiting as your reward at the top.      

    • Surrey Street Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From 10 Surrey to 28 Worcester Street at the top. A very subtle entry way and you could easily miss this from Surrey. Follow along this path. The view from the top is spectacular. It’s December when I took these shots and some flowers along the way. At the top – beside St Thomas More church.  

    • Churchill Drive Steps to Spencer Street
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From 5 Spencer Street to 1 Silverstream Road at Churchill Drive Roundabout. These are just a few steps as a shortcut from the roundabout near the Crofton Downs railway station. Not much, but there they are.  

    • Oban Street Steps to Oban Street
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From opposite 132 Oban Street on the upper level and opposite 86 Oban street on the lower level.   It’s fun when you come across steps without knowing they are there – like looking for Easter eggs. These steps appeared when I was looking for another address and they are short and fun. They simply curve from Oban Street to Oban Street. How simple, and how useful, is that. I can find no history or reference for the street’s name or history but the nearby residents have been lobbying for direct access to Trelissick Park since 1981.  

    • Glenmore Street to Raroa Road Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From 29 Raroa Road and from the lower level at 205 Glenmore Street. These steps have eluded me until Chris suggested them through an email to this site. Finally! Many thanks, Chris. Glenmore Road, at the lower level, was originally named Karori Road, reported Ms Irvine-Smith, until 1920 when the name was changed and, she comments, the name is “well suited to the configuration of the road.” Ms Irvine-Smith wrote that the main purpose of Raroa Road “was to provide access from the southern and eastern ends of the city to the “new” cemetery at Karori, opened in 1891″ and previously named Cemetery Road. I can find no definition or other reference for the road’s name. These steps are unusual – the pathway to the second level of steps from the top street passes under a house! The view from the top of the steps at Raroa Road.    

    • Cape Palliser Lighthouse Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – Difficult to miss, really, along the Cape Palliser Road along the South coast of the North Island/Te Ika a Maui The lighthouse was established here in 1897 and it was last staffed in 1986. It is 18m high. Th is from the excellent website Lighthouses of New Zealand: North Island 1897. Active; focal plane 78 m (256 ft); two white flashes every 20 s. 18 m (59 ft) round cast iron tower with lantern and gallery, painted with red and white horizontal bands (the only New Zealand lighthouse with this daymark). The original 2nd order Fresnel lens continues in use. The two keeper’s houses are now private residences. A photo by Kathrin & Stefan Marks is at the top of this page, Werning has a good photo, Walter Davis has a good closeup photo, Trevor Mordaunt has a spectacular street view from the top of the cape, Google also has a distant street view from below the lighthouse, and Google has a satellite view. Prefabricated in Wellington, the lighthouse marks the extreme southeastern tip of the North Island and the eastern entrance to Cook Strait and Wellington. The tower was repainted early in 2008, as seen in an April photo, and again in 2015. A gravel road reaches the light station; 4WD recommended. No parking is provided and there’s a climb of 258 steps to the lighthouse. Site open if you can get there, tower closed. Operator/site manager: Maritime New Zealand. ARLHS NZL-011; Admiralty K4000; NGA K4580.   There they are – 252 steps to the lighthouse. Or 250, 251, 258. And I can’t say which it is because this was one of the few steps which got the best of me. I encountered a bit of vertigo about three quarters up the stairs. It is solidly build of wood but it does wobble a bit.   (Photo credit: John Bell)   The view from the start of the steps with a daunting challenge ahead.     The view from the top and looking out at the bay (Photo credit: Thank you,  John Bell)     Remains of previous steps.       “Safety at Sea This aid to navigation is used by Mariners and is essential to their safety. Please respect this property and the lives it protects.  Please  report any damage -”   My car’s navigation system indicated that this was the end of the road.    

    • Upland Road to Glen Road
      • FIND THESE STEPS – Opposite 59 Upland Road and at the top opposite 69 Glen Road. These are just a few steps, but through a little bit of bush and at the top you are rewarded with some lovely street art.

    • Hawick Street to Paparata Street steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – At 11 Hawick Street on the  lower level and from the top across from 7 Selkirk Way.   Hawick Street history from the Karori Historical Societ: “One of the Paparata streets, Hawick is named after the Scottish border town, Duthie (Mrs Miller), the birthplace of Sir James Wilson, the grandfather of the wife of one of the syndicate’s principals, Dr Haylock.” Ant at the top,  Named after the Paparata Development Company Ltd which initiated the subdivision in conjunction with a firm of surveyors. The company was originally formed to develop a large hill country block at the Paparata Saddle in the King Country. Paparata literally means “rata flat” i.e. papa (flat land) on which ratas grow. As well as Paparata Street, eight other streets were formed at the time of this 1967 subdivision. There are lots of steps here, too – the first set is 118 and then another 25 to the top. At the top.

    • Sutherland Road to Buckingham Street
      • FIND THESE STEPS – At the top at 51 – 55 Sutherland Road and from the lower level at 36 Buckingham Street.   The view from Sutherland Road looking toward Lyall Bay. And a view of Wellington International Airport.   And at the bottom of the hill, at Buckingham Street.

    • Ballantrae and Selwyn Steps and steps nearby….
      • FIND THESE STEPS – Ballantrae steps begin beside 15 Ballantrae Place and rise up to 99 Hill Street. The Hill Street steps start from the far end of Selwyn Terrace. And near Parliament, small steps at the Ballantrae Place roundabout. Ballantrae Steps (above)   Selwyn Terrace to Hawkstone At No 18 Selwyn Terrace. On this day I had several Tui poking in the trees and telling me off for being there. At the top on Hill Street again. Ballantrae steps On the other side of Hill Street across from Hawkstone walkway. A memorial or a celebration of State Highway 1 along the way. Ballantrae Place being created in 1971.  “Photo taken shortly before the construction of the Bowen Street motorway overpass commenced.” Ministry of Works Wellington Urban Motorway Construction   The view of the steps from Ballantrae Place looking toward Hill Street and the concrete ribbon of the motorway. And across Ballantrae Place is a short cut involving steps that takes you to – Parliament!   Helpful guidance along the way. Industrial grade, no-nonsense steps meant to get you from here to there. And at the end of Ballantrea Place there is Parliament! And another short, but very nice, set of steps.            

    • Jacob’s Ladder, St Helena Island
      • FIND THESE STEPS – On St Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Aside from being the site of Napoleon’s death, Ste Helena island is the site of this very impressive stairway. I haven’t been been there but this is one of those unusual events that occurred during the New Zealand lockdown in March 2020 and that has made us safe here. I was alerted to this by a kind person on Twitter, and many thanks. Opened in 1829 it is owned by the Saint Helena Railway Company, and it is the remains of a cable railway that was removed due to termite damage in 1871. There are 699 steps and it is lit at night. I have plans – when the world returns to ‘normal.’    

    • Beere Haven Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From 107 Marine Parade and at the top neaar 41 Newport Terrace. Beere Haven Steps also have a Tsunami warning. Sinclair Street was named for another of the (many) New Zealand Company  directors, Sir George Sinclair, from Scotland. Apparently he didn’t come to see New Zealand but his son did. The view from the top of  Sinclair Street and of the ferry coming into Wellington harbour.      

    • City to Sea Bridge Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – At the Wellington Civic Centre and across Jervois Quay to Whairepo Lagoon and The Boatshed and The Wellington Rowing Club. If there is a place in Wellington that is crawling with steps this is the one. The bridge links the harbour to the Civic Centre, the Central Library, the Town Hall, and the City Gallery. There are many steps. In the 1980’s Wellington Civic Trust ran a competition for a link between the city and the harbour and this became the solution in 1994. Designed by Rewi Thompson and John Grey the wood structure also holds sculpture by Paratene Matchitt. “It’s true you can’t live here by chance, you have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe. This is the city of action, the world headquarters of the verb.” -Lauris Edmond (1924 – 2000) She also wrote “A poem is a confrontation with experience. It’s not an idea.” The really spectacular view of Wellington Harbour/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, also called Pōneke. The steps descending from the south side of the bridge. The steps on the north side. Frank Kitts (a former mayor of Wellington) Lagoon was renamed on 17 December 2015 to Whairepo Lagoon. The name reflects the Māori name for the eagle ray in the harbour. They are considered kaitiaki (guardians). (From the Land Information New Zealand name announcement) The view across the Whairepo Lagoon, and below, the steps of The BoatShed and the Wellington Rowing Club.                                

    • Sar, Barnard, and Anne Street Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From 83 to 91 Sar Street, Wadestown, and at the next step from 109/113 Barnard Street, and from the top at  64 Anne Street. These steps give you an unexpected experience – a grand, old staircase, and then spectacular views. And I’m grateful to Robert Mosen for letting me know about them. Looking up from Barnard Street to Anne Street. Post- lockdown construction at the entrance from Sar Street. Ms Irvine-Smith wrote about the ‘curiously derived S.A.R Street, commonly called Sar Street, as well as Anne Street’ as being named for Sarah Anne Rhodes, second wife of William Barnard Rhodes (Barnard Street is named for him). Rhodes has been described as one of the wealthiest men in New Zealand at the time, owning possibly a million acres of land in the North and South Islands, and was a founder of Bank of New Zealand. He built a large house, called ‘The Grange’ in  the 1860s in this area, and the drive to his house became Wadestown Road. Wellington being the small town it is, The Grange became the home of Katherine Mansfield’s father, Sir Harold Beauchamp. Mrs Rhodes presented the Mayoral Chain to Wellington City, and also left funding for the education of women at Victoria University. After the pathway past the construction site. Looking up to Barnard Street. And back down toward Sar Street. From Barnard Street to Anne Street.         The stunning views from the top on Anne Street – just turn to the left at the top of the steps and walk a bit up the street.              

    • Hobson to Thorndon Quay Steps
      • FIND THESE STEPS – From Hobson Street, beside the German Embassy, at 94 Hobson Street and at 243 Thorndon Quay, in Thorndon. Across the Wellington Urban Motorway a few steps lead from the upper hill of Thorndon to the Thorndon Quay, and offers one of the most desolate and unwelcoming pathways in Wellington. I”m only including these steps because they are, actually, useful to get from the upper level to the street below. The pathway starts alongside the German Embassy. The rather dismal view looking toward the yard of Hirepool.   The entry way is really a terrible experience unless you imagine yourself in some sort of urban futuristic film fantasy. Even that would be grim. But on the upper level, on Hobson Street, you can find the lovely Lday McKenzie Garden for the Blind, and a good guide to the local historic area around Katherine Mansfield’s house.  

Updated Feeds

Recently updated feeds from local organisations.