A windy and showery afternoon did not deter twenty-three people from coming along to walk the first part of the Te Henga Walkway and enjoy a shared afternoon tea near O'Neill’s Beach. 12 of us left the Bracken soon after 1:30pm and met up with the rest of the group at the start of the walkway off Bethells Rd near Bethells Beach. We set out along the walkway, climbing gradually. As we were walking a group of trampers came the other way. Nelson Young, Marian Kilgour, David Kilgour and Ruth Kristensen did their own walk in the area and were on their way home, so we stopped for a moment to catch up with them.   We carried on through bush and pasture, but were disappointed to see the pohutukawas, a blaze of red before Christmas, still not flowering. O’Neills Beach came into view.   Our intention was to have afternoon tea on the beach, but as it was windy we went down to the south end of the beach.   It was decided we would have afternoon tea under some trees on the ridge between O’Neills and Bethells beaches. Thanks to the contributions brought along we would treated to quite a lavish nosh-up - fancy biscuits, fruit cake, chips, strawberries and even some chicken.   Afterwards we went back along the beach to Bethells Rd, as a band of showers came across.

Some sun-umbrellas over picnic tables outside a mobile coffee shop provided a bit of shelter as the rains passed over.

We were back at the carpark about 5:15pm, having enjoyed ourselves despite the wind and the showers, which were gone by the time Gary began to help Lin, who discovered a flattie on her car when she arrived at the start of our walk, replace the front tyre before the journey home. COST: $4