Editorial: Take steps to treasure Bay delights

At first you don't want to get up.

The alarm sounds and it seems unbelievable that it could be 5.30am already, but it is. The trick is to force yourself up and out the door.

Once you are walking, you soon realise what a special time of the day it is.

There is a stillness about, the air is quite crisp and the sun has not made much of an impression yet. Like you, the day is still finding its feet and working out how it feels.

Soon the sun and effort of the walk warms you up and you begin to adapt to your environment. You begin to notice the little things - the small rabbit that scurries by or the hawk flying overhead. Even the faint noise of the tractor spraying the vines can't detract from the moment.

An early morning walk has become part of my routine of late as Hawke's Bay Today staff members are participating in Health Hawke's Bay's Seven Week Step Up Challenge.

Having spent the past 10 years living in the thriving metropolis of Auckland, it is a pleasant change to be able to walk out of my front door in Havelock North and be passing the vineyards within 20 minutes.

It makes one appreciate what we have in Hawke's Bay.

There is not much traffic on the roads at that time - the occasional car goes by.

As I walk along there are a number of regulars striding along the sidewalks. They become few and far between the further out I go.

This is the part I love - when urban becomes rural. Being a city boy born and bred, I love the fact that I can be in the countryside a mere two kilometres or so from my house.

The paddocks full of sheep are soon replaced by vineyards, with the Black Barn estate sprawling to my right. The paved sidewalk soon becomes grass, but the view makes the unevenness underfoot worth it.

The walk back into suburbia seems to go quickly and an hour later I am back at my house. It may be over, but the good feeling sets you up for the day.

And there is always tomorrow morning.