The Breeze Walking Festival 28 September – 13 October

Come 28 September, you'd best gather the dust from your walking shoes as The Breeze Walking Festival hits Christchurch's streets and trails once again. The Breeze Walking Festival goes through to 13 October, and there will be lots of special events to celebrate walking. 

Festival programmes will be available at most Christchurch City Council libraries and service centres, or you can see the events on The Breeze Walking Festival page. About half the festival walks require bookings, you can simply join the other walks on the day. Bookings opened 26 August.

Among this year’s festival highlights are several family-friendly feature walks, including:

• Dogs’ Day Out in the Zone Sunday 29 September
• Gruffalo Explorers Wednesday 2 October
• The Generation Game at Travis Wetland Sunday 6 October
• Pukeko Stomp Tuesday 8 October
• Adventure on Te Ara Ihutai Christchurch Coastal Pathway Sunday 13 October

Of course, Spring is the perfect time of year to begin thinking about a regular exercise regime, if you haven't already. I've had to step it up a notch now that the 'not enough daylight hours in winter' excuse no longer holds any weight. There's nothing that wakes you up quite like a brisk walk on a cold spring morning. After coffee, of course. 

But you don't have to go it alone. If you're someone who prefers to walk with company, there are many walking groups out there in the community to help you get your fitness on and socialise/meet new people. CINCH: Christchurch's Community Directory is a good launching pad, or try the Join a Walking Group resource on the Christchurch City Council website. 

To get inspired, you might like to check out some of the walking focused titles from our collection:

Walking into the Past

You can contribute photographs and upload images to the Discovery Wall, New Zealand’s largest digital touchwall. 

The following photograph depicts the Papanui Technical School Tramping Club Hike, in 1948, near the Sign of the Kiwi. Papanui Technical College was founded in 1936, and was officially renamed Papanui High School in 1949. 

The next photograph was taken at Pulpit Rock, a large volcanic rock buttress situated above Akaroa Harbour. 

Learn more about the Sumner-Lyttelton Road, a well-travelled link between the communities of Lyttelton and Sumner.