56 - Views of Tasman Bay & Days Track

PLEASE NOTE: Days Track is currently closed and not accessible at this time.

Time: 40 - 60 minute walk

Area: Tahunanui Hills. Mostly sealed - up hills and down.

Start Location: The Basin Reserve, a small carpark on Rocks Road, opposite Connolly's Quay fishing platform. Notable features within the carpark are the Norfolk pines, the Phoenix palm and the interesting cliff formations above.

Download the Views of Tasman Bay & Days Track map (65KB PDF)

Route directions

At the northern end of the reserve a set of steps leads you up beside a private driveway. Go along the concrete pathway a little way and veer right at the grass - walk along the grass pathway and up a gravel path between the houses.

Just before you start up the steps deviate left slightly and you will see the Haven Cemetery, the burial place of Captain Wakefield's clerk, Henry Bell. Go up the steps and on to Malcolm Place - turn left and then right into The Cliffs.

At the top of The Cliffs the road forks. Take the left fork and head up the concrete pathway - Moncrieff Walkway. Turn right into Princes Drive at the top and catch your breath at the seat, or a little further along at the lookout where there is a plane table.

Continue on down the hill, on Moana Avenue and past the grove of large pohutukawa on your left. Cross Moncrieff Avenue and turn right at the Days Track sign. Go down the first section of Days Track* and turn right into Grenville Terrace.

Fifteen metres along on the left another Days Track sign indicates the second section - this part doesn't have quite as many steps. Down at the bottom of the track you reach Rocks Road - cross the road here.

'Live the day' and swim in the sea, or follow Rocks Road back round to the Basin Reserve. John Tinline donated the chain fence round Rocks Road from Magazine Point to the Beacon in the late 1890s. The fence was completed with funding from well known Nelson benefactor Thomas Cawthron - a safety measure after a cyclist plunged into The Haven in 1912.

Options: *If you don't think your knees can handle the many steps of Days Track, then follow Moana Avenue and Bisley Avenue to the bottom of the hill. At the Tahunanui roundabout turn right and walk around the waterfront back to the Basin Reserve - a short stroll along the beach is a great idea if you've got time.