Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Kairaki Kaiapoi Kruise
Submitted by Tony Sharpe
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Open
Grunt Factor: 11
Gnarl Factor: 14
12.2km
138m
138m
25m
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Submitted by Tony Sharpe
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Open
Grunt Factor: 11
Gnarl Factor: 14
12.2km
138m
138m
25m
Urban fringe
Loop
Totally/mostly flat
Plantation/exotic forest
Beach
Coastal
Riverside
Sealed Road
Easy Single Track
Moderate Single Track
Average Uphill Gradient: +0.1%
Average Downhill Gradient: -1.6%
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1:30
Slow
1:15
Moderate
1:00
Fast
Start in front of the sailing club and follow the trail on the east back of the canal behind the houses. This will get you up to Pines Beach where you can cross over the canal and return to the Waimakariri River along another trail on the west bank. Pleasant scenery.
Turn right to follow stopbanks up the Waimakariri with great views across Brooklands Lagoon and to Christchurch and the distant Port Hills. Photo stops on a nice day for sure! Head past the roadend after the oxidation ponds, checking out the great fishing spot. Continue up the stopbanks now on the side of the Kaiapoi River until you see the town up ahead.
Hang a right at the dog park into the Red Zone (spare a thought for those who lived here before the 2010 quake) and follow the trails through Norman Kirk Park, to eventually link with the side streets through to the main road back to Pines Beach. Follow the cycle trail all the way back and then carry on to finish the run with a more technical stretch through the forest section (or beach if you wish). There's lots of trail options so follow your nose (or the gpx track) through for a nice finish back to the Waimakariri Mouth where you started.
Waimakariri River Mouth, Kaiapoi River, Tuhaitara Forest, great beach & Kaiapoi Red Zone
No public transport out here, but you could start the run in Kaiapoi instead if thats an issue
4 km
5 minutes
Unknown
No
Easy.
Follow your nose in the forest, there is a marked trail but if you lose it just keep heading south on whatever trail you find yourself on
Perfect throughout.
Windproof jacket, Whistle, First aid kit, Extra food for emergencies, Cellphone, Map.
You can fill up at the start, and there's also water at the Kaiapoi end in Norman Kirk Park
Hot in a norwester
Nothing of note
Port and Eagle
Kaiapoi township
https://eaglebrewing.nz/brewpub
Great craft beer brewery on the river side
Fastest Known Times (FKTs)
You and Kairaki Kaiapoi Kruise
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A good excuse to tour the Kaiapoi area, tho don't bother with trail shoes as 30% is pavement, from the dog park all the way thru to Pines Beach unless you take the boggy berm as it was mid winter. And don't try following the gpx as you turn south from the Pines Beach carpark as it will lead you to a swamp and trails obliterated by recent logging. Think the views would've been better just heading out to beach and around the Waimakariri river mouth. Otherwise a lovely open run for the most part that is stunning on a crisp midwinter day.
July 18, 2022
Was much more varied than expected. The gem of this run is the little out and back along the sides of the Kairaki Creek. At the fishing spot, I followed the GPX file by jumping a farm fence and sloshing through boggy farmland then jumping another fence at a bridge. I'd say just stick to the top of the stop bank here. Parts of the pine plantation area at the end have been newly felled and you need to clamber through here to connect back up to the sandy track that leads back to the river mouth - easy enough to do. Thanks very much for the explore Tony.
October 8, 2021
For a flat run, there is surprising variety in this run. Neat to see behind the houses along Karaiki creek, although the rough surfaces of the paddocks coming back along the other side helped us appreciate the the well groomed Pegasus Bay walkway track to Kaiapoi. Good to see what was happening in the Norman Kirk Park, and quite sobering to remember there was an entire suburb here before the quakes. We missed a junction in the plantation towards the end and went off piste for a bit, but never really lost. The only real downside was running alongside the sewage ponds which got a bit hard to stomach at one point.
Good family jog with 12 and 9 year olds. Thanks for submitting.
August 7, 2021
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