Once again we popped on our walking shoes and headed out. The weather wasn't the greatest and we did most of the walk under our hoods. The choice of walk this time being a place called Tunnel Gully, I had heard about it from my wonderful friend Julie who takes her boys ('boys' being Fortnum and Mason her Basset Hounds!).
The walk was really lovely, a nice simple forest track that had been superbly marked out. All the usual wonderful forest delights were there, the smells, the sounds - it always takes me on a journey into my childhood days.
Some of the trees we saw were amazing, they were huge!
As we headed into a clearing we smelt something like never before, rows upon rows of Eucalyptus trees - it was just wonderful! I could imagine myself popping a picnic blanket down, a nice soft cushion and a good book whilst enjoying the fabulous aroma.
As we headed round the corner we came to a really long tunnel - of course hence the name of Tunnel Gully. Named for its link with the historic Rimutaka Railway between Wellington and the Wairarapa, this is a 221m long tunnel named Mangaroa Tunnel, built between 1875 and 1877. The tunnel's working life ended in November 1955 when the new Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
We ventured only half way before the thought of possible overhead Weta's got the better of us and we retreated! 
Lucky that we headed out at that point, because look who we bumped in to!! 
It was nice to see Julie there, she was right in her recommendation. The walk was lovely and we really enjoyed our time there. Of course next time we need to do it in better weather so we see a little more than just the hoods on our coats!
Posts
