A WALK AMONGST THE FAIRIES
24 JANUARY 2024
Sienna (human) and Bailey (dog)
A Very Cute Start To The Walk
When I was a kid here in New Zealand there were no fairy forest walks around but now we find them popping up all over the place which is super exciting! We have been to a few on our travels, like the fairy houses in Hobsonville, Auckland, the Bottle Lake Fairy Village in Christchurch and Grandjeans Fairy Forest in Greymouth and we find some are better than others (the first 2 we mentioned are the best so far!) and some are more basic, like this one.
The track is in the McHughs Forest in Darfield, Canterbury and it's a super easy, flat track through covered forest with fairy doors at the base of the trees, which is the perfect height for all kiddos!
At the beginning of the track, we found a huge blue fairy door with a mushroom table and mushroom seats which was a beautiful introduction to the walk. How cute would it be to have a tea party here! Even though Mama really wanted to snap a bunch of adorable photos, the girls were too excited to stay put, so we left the fairy door behind and headed deeper into the forest.
Arabella and Sienna were very excited to wear their fairy wings on this walk - how cute do they look?
The track is in the McHughs Forest in Darfield, Canterbury and it's a super easy, flat track through covered forest with fairy doors at the base of the trees, which is the perfect height for all kiddos!
At the beginning of the track, we found a huge blue fairy door with a mushroom table and mushroom seats which was a beautiful introduction to the walk. How cute would it be to have a tea party here! Even though Mama really wanted to snap a bunch of adorable photos, the girls were too excited to stay put, so we left the fairy door behind and headed deeper into the forest.
Arabella and Sienna were very excited to wear their fairy wings on this walk - how cute do they look?
Tiny Treasures
It took us around an hour to find most of the fairy doors but the tracks weren't very well sign posted so we kind of followed our nose and hoped we were going in the right direction... so I have no idea if we missed any or not. The girls loved checking out the houses and some of the doors even opened up. Some fairy houses were basic, others more fancy, but every single one was unique and it's cool that kids have been creating them to put in the forest for everyone (including the fairies) to enjoy.
Arabella had written a note to the fairies, which had a pretty hairclip attached to it, and she put it behind one of the doors. Behind one of the doors, she found a bag of cute gemstones someone had left for the fairies. It's such a cute and enchanting walk and you can make it even more special by asking the kids if they'd like to leave anything for the fairies!
I loved the little path names someone had created, however it looked like someone had been through and destroyed some (including some fairy houses) which is awful! Arabella found a sign that had come off one of the posts, so she got Lath's handy dandy swiss army knife, found the screw driver attachment and screwed it back on. There were some beautiful flowers on the track when we did it in summer, like my favourite fox gloves (so pretty!)
We were pet sitting in Christchurch and looking after a gorgeous dog called Bailey who came along on the walk with us and who made a very cute model for my pics! We ended up at the dog park to the right of the trailhead where we started... this wasn't intentional, but it worked out well as Bailey got a good run off leash before we got in the car and headed back home!
Arabella had written a note to the fairies, which had a pretty hairclip attached to it, and she put it behind one of the doors. Behind one of the doors, she found a bag of cute gemstones someone had left for the fairies. It's such a cute and enchanting walk and you can make it even more special by asking the kids if they'd like to leave anything for the fairies!
I loved the little path names someone had created, however it looked like someone had been through and destroyed some (including some fairy houses) which is awful! Arabella found a sign that had come off one of the posts, so she got Lath's handy dandy swiss army knife, found the screw driver attachment and screwed it back on. There were some beautiful flowers on the track when we did it in summer, like my favourite fox gloves (so pretty!)
We were pet sitting in Christchurch and looking after a gorgeous dog called Bailey who came along on the walk with us and who made a very cute model for my pics! We ended up at the dog park to the right of the trailhead where we started... this wasn't intentional, but it worked out well as Bailey got a good run off leash before we got in the car and headed back home!
The path to the dog park
Know Before You Go
- This is a very easy and flat walk, perfect for even the littlest explorers
- Only a few of the fairy doors open, the rest are just pretty to look at
- The trails aren't very well sign posted and we often found ourselves wondering which way to go when we came to a fork in the road, so you may need to follow your nose
- There is a dog park in the forest which is perfect for letting the furry kids roam free, plus they are allowed on the tracks
- Why not add your own fairy door or leave a special treasure or note for the fairies?
How To Get To McHughs Forest In Canterbury
The walk is 40-minutes from Christchurch City and 50-minutes from Ashburton. The track starts by the carpark on Hordon Street in Darfield. It's sign posted and you can't miss the giant fairy door at the entrance!
Click here for the location on Google Maps.
Click here for the location on Google Maps.
Conclusion
We loved this little walk through the forest, hunting for all the fairy doors in the forest and seeing if we could spot any treasures left for the fairies. It's a super easy and short walk that is completely flat, so it's easy for all kids. After you've done this walk, why not head up to the Bottle Lake Forest in Christchurch and check out the fairy forest there!
Gallery of McHughs Forest Fairy Door Walk
Check out the rest of the awesomeness that didn't make it to the main blog but deserves to be shown.
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