Last year the end of year tramp was cancelled because of the pouring rain; this time we had no reason at all to cancel our tramp - it was a glorious sunny day and the first real summery weekend of the season. 17 people took part in this tramp which this time was in the Waitakere Ranges near Karekare. As it was the season of Christmas and Santa Claus, the two white-bearded Peters were in charge of the tramp. We left the Bracken at the later time of 9:30am and met up with some more people at the Karekare beach car park. Our leader Peter C told us a little about the area before we set off up a six hour loop that would take in the Odlins Timber Track, the headwaters of the Pararaha, Orange Peel Corner and the Pararaha Valley. The tramp began with a grunt up the Zion Hill Track. On the way up we came to a lookout and had views of Paratahi Island and the Karekare beach. After stopping to group up at the junction we carried along Zion Ridge Track, a more level track that eventually came out to join Buck Taylor Track. We soon came out to Lone Kauri Road and saw some of the very few patches of farm country in the Waitakere Ranges. The Odlins Timber Track, originally used by a timber company of the same name to haul out native timber, brought us down to the headwaters of the Pararaha Stream, a lovely spot to have our lunch. Peter O read out a page from Stuart Briscoe’s book Devotions for Men (a Christmas present his 4-year old grandson had given him) that was headed Everything is Beautiful. This told of the beauty of God’s creation all around us, as described in Psalm 104, and how the Book of Genesis tells us that God has given mankind the charge of all animals and plants. This authority has been abused through such things as pollution, ruining the environment, deliberate cruelty to animals, etc. and we need to be good stewards of our charge and respect and preserve His creation. Unfortunately the old Sunday school hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful is now almost completely forgotten, both in traditional churches and modern Sunday schools. It was good to be able to sing this hymn amongst the beauty of the bush and the stream. It was a long grunt up to Orange Peel Corner, a well-deserved rest stop. Because we were to have the barbecue at a certain members home in Karekare we just had to include the Walker Ridge Track in our itinerary.  This was more level but much more muddy and slushy. After a rest stop at the next junction we continued along Muir Track, dropping down into the Pararaha Valley. The track continued along the valley flats towards the start of the coastal sand dunes. After grouping up we continued on along the edge of the dunes beside the swamp land. We came to an old tunnel through which, at the beginning of the 20th century, logs of kauri would be railed along the coast from Piha and Karekare to waiting ships at Paratutae Rock near Whatipu. From there it was a short walk along the old railway formation - at one stage we could hear a train whistle in the distance - then out onto the broad sandy beach where we could see Paratahi Island once more. A walk around the rocks brought us back to Karekare, and at least one of us put on swimming togs for a cool off in a nearby stream. Soon we were back in our cars headed up the road a short distance to the Walker Beach Mansion for our end-of-year pot-luck BBQ.

Out came the sacred Log of Wood, a special piece of firewood that had a cross-section in the shape of a ruince which lent itself to the purpose it had been dedicated 5 weeks before at Rangipo Hut, to hold balancing competitions. Anna  set a new record at 6 minutes, one minute longer than the record set by a French tramper at Rangipo.

As the daylight drew to a close, it was Now is the Hour. COST: $4 travel