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Auckland Baptist Tramping Club CLEVEDON CLANGER Clevedon Sun 1 Aug |
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| For a full size picture click on the thumbnail |
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A glorious “day out of the box” attracted 28 people to a place the Club had never been before, the Clevedon
Scenic Reserve - and their hard efforts were rewarded with terrific views from the summit. We left The Bracken about 1:45pm and drove to Camp Sladdin, a scout camp at the end of Thorps Quarry Road just north of Clevedon township and at the start of the Clevedon Scenic Reserve. It was a steady and exhausting climb up a seemingly endless flight of steps through native bush. At the top of this stretch there was a long series of downhill steps then more uphill - a real hour’s workout! There was a large viewing platform built on the summit, and from here we could see all around - to the east Ponui Island with the Firth of Thames and Coromandel behind; the Hunua Ranges to the southeast; to the south the farmland of the Bombay hills; westward was the Manukau Harbour; Auckland city with its prominent Sky Tower was to the northwest; and peeping over the hills of the Maraetai forest to the north was the summit of Little Barrier Island. Afterwards it was a quick drop by a more direct well-formed track to Camp Sladdin. We were out about 4pm; as we waited for everyone to come out Dave kept 10yr-old Michael happy with a soccer ball and an assortment of planes flew overhead including an air force jet, a “warbird” from the nearby Ardmore aerodrome and several small planes. Some of us stopped at the Clevedon Woolshed Cafe for coffee before going home COST: $3-80 |