Sixteen people turned up for a walk through the Meadowbank area, starting and finishing at the home of Paul, a familiar place for many a Club night and social event. We left the house and carried on up Gerard Way to St Johns Rd and down Meadowbank Rd, stopping at a place where we could look down to the upper reaches of Orakei Basin.

From there we went on up Bonnie Brae and back on to Meadowbank Rd, going to the end for another view of Orakei Basin.

We could look across to the pony club fields, a lovely pocket of rural pasture in the more affluent suburbs of  New Zealand’s largest city.

Another little-known secret was the Tahapa Crescent reserve, a large hillside of mown grass with a pond at the bottom which our leader Paul said often had quite a bit of birdlife in it.

A strip of grass led around to the Purewa Cemetery.

Raewyn Sleeman was a former Club member who went on many trips about ten years ago, and in more recent years was keen on dancing, going along to the monthly Auckland Christian Singles dances. A lovely keen Christian woman, she was only in her forties when she was released from cancer ten months ago into the pain-free world of heaven. We placed some flowers in a vase over her grave before spending a few minutes in silence and prayer.

We continued on through the cemetery, coming out on St Johns Rd. Lorraine took a few of us who did not feel like going on, back to Paul’s home to get afternoon tea ready, while the others carried on through some of the back streets fronting on to Remuera Golf Course. Like all golf courses, we were not allowed to go through and come out on to Gerard Way, so we continued on to Norman Lesser Drive and back that way to the house.

A lovely afternoon tea was waiting for us, a good way to finish off an enjoyable afternoon.