Auckland Baptist Tramping Club 2004

Seventeen people took this opportunity either to train for the summer tramps or just enjoy the ABTC fellowship and the great outdoors by tramping from Hunua Falls to the Moumoukai Hill Rd. The trip was originally offered as two options, with cars being left at both ends and keys swapped halfway to save time. However nearly everyone wanted to do the uphill option rather than the downhill one, so the trip had to be changed to offer the uphill option only, trampers being faced with a one-hour wait at Hunua Falls while cars were placed at the finish. We sent out from Hunua Falls carpark at 10:30am, crossing the Wairoa River footbridge giving a view of the Hunua Falls. After ten minutes we came to the Cosseys Stream and a compulsory foot-wash for everyone. The track continued a short way upstream before a long grunt up a series of steps to then follow way above the Cosseys Stream. We could see the stream below at one point along the track. We came out about 11:30am on Cosseys Dam Road near Cosseys Dam. Some of us had a look at the dam and reservoir. God had made the lawnmowing equipment to keep the face of the dam tidy. A short walk down Cosseys Dam Road brought us to the start of Orums Road Track. Mountain lupins of the type that brighten up the tussocklands of the South Island high country graced the roadside. Orums Road Track began as a vehicle track climbing steadily to follow the main ridge of the Cosseys catchment. We stopped for lunch about 12:30pm at the start of a side track out of the fierce cold wind. Nelson likened our walk to the Christian life, quoting 2 Corinthians 5:7 We walk by faith, not by sight, to our guaranteed place for born-again Christians. He cited the example of fellow Club members Peter and Val who came out to New Zealand from England for their retirement. They came from a country whose walking tracks were mainly open and one could rely on sight only, to our tracks through dense subtropical bush where one needs maps etc. as well as sight. In the Christian walk we can not see God but He is there, we need faith for our maps and GPS. Nelson brought out three points to do with our walking: (1) we walk one step at a time, we trust in each footstep we take to get us there (2) we need to endure (Matthew 10:22 - He who endures will be saved) and not pull out through discouragement. Imagine a tramper giving up halfway through a trip!  (3) we need to cast off our weights that slow us down (Hebrews 12:1) as we need to minimise our weight on pack-carrying tramps. We continued on following the ridges through a mixture of pines and native bush, with occasional views on either side. At the junction of Orums Rd and McKenzie Rd we went up to a trig to take in the extensive panoramic view all around, despite the strong wind and the haze. We could make out Umupuia Peninsula, Waiheke Island and Clevedon, but our imaginations had to be called in to see the volcanic cones of Auckland and the Sky Tower in the distance. After the junction the track became a gravel road. We were in a commercial pine forest leasing its land from the Auckland Regional Council; the area had been harvested and replanted recently so we were able to see all around us as we walked, just as Peter and Val did on their walks in England. A final grunt brought us to the junction with Plows Rd, with a groupup stop halfway up, and a rest at the top. Just ten minutes later we were out at the Moumoukai Hill Rd carpark. Hunters who had been eradicating part of the Hunua Ranges for destructive wild goats had just come out, some of us extended our fellowship to their canine companions.

We were out by 3:30pm, having enjoyed a lovely walk and, for those tramping the South Island, a time of work-out. COST: $8.