Auckland Baptist Tramping Club 2005

A warm and sunny afternoon brought out as total of 17 people to discover some hidden secrets of a place Auckland take for granted - the Auckland Domain.. We met at the grandstand, home of the highly popular annual Skysity Starlight Symphony outdoor concerts, at 1:30pm and began our walk from there. We set out across the sports fields to climb the former Maori pa site of Pukekaroa From there we went down and into the wintergarden house, a dazzling display of colour at all times of the year. Next door was the Fernz Fernery, which was once a small quarry. We came out into the wintergardens courtyard with its pond. From there we explored the well-known duckponds, whose inhabitants rely on the goodwill of visitors and their scraps of bread. The formal gardens also deserved an inspection. It was time for our walk through the native bush areas of the Domain. We took a side trip through a tunnel underneath the railway line leading to Parnell via the former railway years, now home to Mainline Steam. We continued on through the bush to come out to the Auckland Museum and cenotaph for our break, basking in the sunshine. Several left the group at this point, having to go home to other commitments, and Linda joined us for the rest of our walk. Nearby was the Scented Garden, which had been set up for blind people living at what was once the Blind Institute across the road, to enjoy with their noses. On the way back we stopped to look at a large bird that had landed on the grass - and would not take off when we approached it.

A walk over Gum Tree Hill brought us back to the grandstand, finishing at 4:15pm.