GDOW Adventure: Local Hills & Tunnel Hike
Details
Hello adventure lovers in Wellington. This month we’re walking up and down hills AND inside a hill!
- Activity: Tucked away into Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori) Hill is Thomas Tunnel and Quarry Site. Apparently you can actually go into the tunnel a little bit. I think this sounds like a fun thing to track down. So we’re going to do a walk from Wadestown to Thorndon and will try to find the tunnel and also walk up to the peak for good views.
- Date: Saturday 29 November, 2025
- Location Timeline: Since this is a one-way walk, I’ve created a timeline so you can join at any of these points and timestops along our route.
- 1:45pm: Lambton Quay Stop C (near Kiwibank Lambton Quay). We’ll be catching the first #14 bus after that (scheduled to be 1:52pm). So make sure you arrive on time/early.
- 2:15pm: Wadestown Kitchen (104 Wadestown Road, Wadestown). This is cafe with nearby public toilets. We’ll wait here for 15 minutes for people to arrive, grab coffee & food, and then start walking at 2:30pm. If you’re late, please message on the Discord to let us know to wait.
- 4-4:30pm approximately: Arrive at the Sprig + Fern Thorndon. For a post-walk drink, food, and hang out.
- Later on in the afternoon people can take a bus back to Lambton Quay to the start point or back to Wadestown or to their homes directly.
- Minimum Cost: $0. Extras you may want/need to pay for: bus tickets, coffee/food at start location, drink/food at the end location.
- Physical considerations: We’ll be walking for about an hour and a half up and down hills. In the quarry tunnel you might need to walk hunched over. You can wait outside the tunnel entrance if you want.
- Duration: Hiking will take about 1.5-2 hours time. Then hang out at the end will be about another 30 or so minutes.
- What to bring: Torch/flashlight so you can see in the quarry. Comfortable walking/hiking shoes, appropriate clothing (including raincoat), your own water. You can buy food at the start and end of the hike.
- Who's welcome: any person at least partly associated with the games industry and as many of their family/friends that would also like to join. Children who are keen to walk the distance welcome, dogs welcome (although it’s unclear whether dogs are allowed at the Sprig + Fern).
- Contingency plan: If the weather is super bad, we’ll reschedule for a different day. I’ll post about that on the Discord channel and also in the Meetup event.
- Other Notes: You don’t need to RSVP if you don’t want to. Just turn up and enjoy.