Although the day dawned grey, a forecast of fine hot weather brought out 34 people for our Waitangi Day picnic on Motuihe Island in the inner Hauraki Gulf. About half the group met at the ferry buildings at 8:30am to board the ferry leaving 9am; the rest got on at Devonport about 9:10am. The boat travelled via Rangitoto wharf, to let off passengers for Rangitoto Island, before carrying on directly to Motuihe Island, arriving about 10am to be greeted by Nelson, Colin and May who had canoed across from Waiheke Island where they lived. We left our belongings on a broad platform along the Wharf Bay beach, our intended picnic spot, in the care of Margaret, while we did a walk over the island. We started with the site of the former HNZMS Tamaki, a navy training centre that shifted to the mainland in 1963. Most of the buildings were removed soon afterwards, but a concrete shed and the old water tower still remain. From there we went out to Te Tumarae Point, the northernmost point on the island. There was an old gun emplacement dating back to World War II, and some graves of seamen who went to the pearly gates in 1918, the year World War I finished. We returned to our picnic area then went along the main track to the centre of the island. This began as a lovely tree-lined farm road. The track left the road at the start of the caretaker’s house, following a fenceline to rejoin the road past the house. We came to the highest point in the island, originally marked by a trig but now occupied by water tanks. There were views looking out across to Waiheke and Ponui Island with the Coromandel Ranges in the distance, and back to Wharf Bay with Rangitoto and Auckland in the distance. By now it was 12noon, and we decided to return to the picnic area, only to find that everyone else was picnicking. So we decided to move our things to a large open tent on the Ocean Beach side, and that provided an ideal area of shade for a shared lunch.

John reflected on A Deck of Cards, an old song by Tex Ritter about a World War II soldier who brought out a pack of cards instead of a Bible or prayer book in a church service. The various cards (2 to 10, jack, queen, king and ace) reminded the soldier of various aspects of the Bible, and John handed out a leaflet he had made up in which he had added devotional thoughts to the song. He first of all highlighted 6, meaning God made the earth in six days and said it was good, saying that a great way to worship Him is to admire His creation - the bush, the beach, the countryside, flowers in the garden, and even the various tastes of our foods. He then went on to 7, where God rested on the seventh day, and commented that He made our bodies in such a way that we need to take a break from our work each week otherwise we would suffer consequences such as sickness and inefficiency. The other number highlighted was 9, for the nine lepers whom Jesus healed without being thanked, bringing out how thanking someone is one of the best ways to encourage that person. According to the song, there were 365 spots on a deck of cards, reminding us that we need Jesus each day of the year. John then said he counted the spots one day and they totalled only 250, and commented that the 250 days represented the time we are awake and we need Jesus for this, and the remaining 115 days represented our sleep, where Jesus look after us anyway while we are inactive. He concluded this part of the devotions with the reminder that we should pray “4” (the number of suits in a deck of cards) others. Lin reminded us that it was Waitangi Day and led us in singing our national anthem God Defend New Zealand, both in English and in Maori, as a prayer for our country. The rest of the afternoon, until about 3:45pm when we packed up to get the boat home at 4pm, was taken up in lazing around - swimming, reading, siestaing. A little boy, who had nothing to do with our group, had been left in the shade of the tent (but not in our care) for several hours while his parents went out fishing - he was already there by the time we started our devotions. A wait that long would have been tough on a lone boy that age, he spent most of the time reading a book sitting down beside his lifejacket. We gave him some of the leftovers of our lunch, and a spare copy of the handout about the Deck of Cards.

Nelson, Colin and May saw us off as the boat pulled out of the wharf at 4pm and travelled non-stop to Devonport and then back in to Auckland to finish off a very enjoyable day of fellowship and relaxation.