Page 1 - A Walk from Wellington to New Plymouth

Appendix 7 A Walk from Wellington to New Plymouth.

William Wilson’s walk from Wellington to New Plymouth was not unusual.
To give some idea of what it must have been like, here is a detailed description of just such an
expedition, that of George Curtis, which took place about 5 or 6 years before William Wilson
made the same journey. The text is copied from the website
http://winsomegriffin.com/Newsham/Overland_to_New_Plymouth.html

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George Curtis arrived at Wellington on the 26 of December 1849 and three days later he left to
walk overland to New Plymouth.
His intention was to make preparations for his family, and he thought he could walk there
quicker than they would be able to arrive by sea.
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His journey took him 16 days, finishing on the 14 of January 1850.
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His family arrived three weeks later on the 7 of February.

William Wilson’s journey took place five or six years later. We do not know how long he took,
but his route, and what he experienced on the way, would have been similar. (The cost for being
carried across rivers seems to have increased however!)

The sketch below, by William Holmes, portrays Wellington in 1854.
It is held at Alexander Turnbull Library.

Plimmer’s warehouse (built on top of a beached hulk, and known as “the Ark”) is one of the
sights William Wilson would have seen as he strolled the waterfront of Wellington, before
departing on his walk to New Plymouth.
He might also have noted Barrett’s Hotel.
Whaler Dicky Barrett had sold the hotel by then and re-settled in New Plymouth.
Barrett was one of the first Europeans to live at Moturoa, and had a lot to do with this place
being chosen as the site of New Plymouth, on the coast of Taranaki.