Summary

Location: between Studholme Street and Avenue Road, on south side of Morinsville

Access: on verge beside bridge on Avenue Road, or roadside on Studholme Street

Length: 1.8 km

Configuration: there-and-back

Grade: undulating

Status: on-leash

Cafes and restaurants: several cafes in town (ca. 1 km)

More information: http://www.mpdc.govt.nz/our-community/walking-a-cycling-tracks/morrinsville-walking-tracks/481-morrinsville-river-walk.html

Description

We hate SH1. It's busy (by New Zealand standards); there are too many lorries, too many tailgaters, too many roadworks.  So when we drive north to south, or south to north, we usually go the quiet way - via SH2 and 27. And going that way, we often make a little diversion to Morrinsville for a coffee and a break. While we're there, we invariably walk the dogs along the riverside walk.

It makes for a pleasant interlude. The walk is just about the right length: thirty of forty minutes there and back, so long enough to stretch the legs but not so long that it drags out the journey too much.  The going is easy - a gently undulating path beneath shady trees, with the river idling its way below us.  And as long as we you ignore the rubbish which has tended to accumulate in the river more recently, it's a pretty place. Midge and Mozzy love it, too, for there's always lots of doggie smells, and easy access to the river for a drink and a paddle. And anything is surely better than slogging up SH1.