20/05/2026. Town Belt/Bullock Track/Woodhaugh Gardens. Grade 2. Hikers. Leaders: Jan Palmer & Sue Beal.
It was a bitterly cold start to the day. We had a brief gathering at Memorial Park before heading to the Southern Cemetery meeting the town folk who were joining us.
Fortunately, the weather was not so chilly in town as 30 hikers rugged up in hats and gloves walked up through some very old and neglected grave sites, pausing briefly at the grave site of John Bevin 1831-1892 who served in the Crimean War before joining the Dunedin Police. Another grave site was the well-known Sew Hoy family.
Moving off the footpath we walked up a grassy lane, followed by a set of steep steps to Eglington Street and along to Zingari Richmond Football Club. Walking on across the football grounds and behind Dunedin Pétanque Club we turned into a narrow lane called Steep Street. Halfway down Steep Street we veered off to walk up a steep, very wet grassy hill back to Eglington Street and on to Unity Park.
We stopped here for morning tea at the Admiral Bird lookout (Rear Admiral of US Navy who commanded the first expedition from Dunedin to Antarctica, 1928) and enjoyed the stunning views over the city, harbour and peninsula.
Continuing from Unity Park we ventured down the first native bush track for the day to Alva Street and along to High Street. Crossing at the High Street pedestrian crossing took us to the next bush track which we followed to Queens Drive and on to Jubilee Park.
Across Jubilee Park we then walked through an Oak Tree grove planted in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and this grove joins up with yet another native bush track taking us back to Queens Drive. A pathway off Queens Drive took us alongside the Belleknowes Golf Course and the Beverley Begg Observatory. Noel McR shared with us an interesting snippet of information that in days gone by Speights Brewery’s Clydesdale horses were once tethered overnight in the paddock of what is now Green 7.
Walking along bush lined Queens Drive we passed Arthur Street School, Otago Boys High School sports fields, Moana Swimming Pool to Olveston (Olveston built by David Theomin in 1904). We sat in the beautiful gardens of Olveston homestead to have our lunch and before leaving one of the gardeners took a group photo of us on the homestead steps. We also had a gold coin collection and deposited $53 in the donations box.
Following lunch, we continued along Queens Drive crossing through Prospect Park to the Bullock Track. Before venturing down the rather steep descent of the Bullock Track, Stewart told us that the Bullock Track was used in the early days to lead cattle to the Abattoirs.
Our last bush / gardens track for the day was through Woodhaugh Gardens to George Street where we caught No. 8 bus back to Kensington Oval and our vehicles.
The combination of street walking (some bush lined), tracks of beautiful native bush, bird song, autumn colours, stunning city views and the constant chatter amongst our fellow hikers made the day most enjoyable. Thank you to all who joined us on the hike and to those who stopped off at Village Green for refreshments afterwards.
Our distance for the day was 9.5 km. Total time, 4 hrs 30 mins.
There was some discussion about the track grading for this walk and thought it could be graded 2.5.
Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.