| Auckland Baptist Tramping Club |
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VALENTINE VALUATION (aka TAMAKI TANGENTIAL) Orakei Sun 14 Feb |
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| For a fullsize picture click on the thumbnail |
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To many people’s minds Paritai Drive is one of the richer and nicer parts of Auckland, and eleven trampers
discovered this and more beautiful and interesting aspects of Orakei helped by lovely weather. From The Bracken we drove to the start of Kitemoana Street at Okahu Bay, where Athol and Judith joined us. We walked through the Takaparawha Regional Park behind the clifftops above Tamaki Drive, an extensive grassed area. We saw the remains of what were probably World War 2 gun emplacements - during that war the army had set up guns along the Tamaki Drive foreshore and on the North Shore to fight a Japanese invasion which never happened in the end. We dropped down to Hapimana Street and cut across to the Savage Memorial with its gardens and large ornamental pool. As expected the area was crowded with Asian tourists taking photos, families picnicking and feeding the birds, and even what appeared to be a tai chi class or similar. From there it was a short walk to Mission Bay and icecreams - the foreshore was even more crowded. Children were paddling and swimming in the fountain; a stage was being set up for a Music in Parks concert scheduled for later in the day. A walk along the shared footpath/cycleway of Tamaki Drive past the yacht club and Kelly Tarltons brought us back to Okahu Bay and the climb up Okahu St. to Paritai Drive. To many people Paritai Drive is a street of posh houses - this was true, but there was also a lovely grassed reserve looking out over Hobson Bay and the Waitemata Harbour. The lovely houses were the reward of people who worked hard at well-paid jobs and saved up - but do worldly riches really bring happiness? Grace means Great Riches At Christ’s Expense - not worldly riches but heavenly riches! As we walked along Paritai Drive we saw a ‘50s flying-boat fly overhead. In their heyday these aeroplanes would travel between Auckland and Sydney, a journey of about ten hours. Passengers would make friends with fellow-passengers - one passenger was known to bring out a Scrabble game early in the flight, and they were still playing on touchdown! We dropped down from Paritai Drive to Tamaki Drive at the end of Hobson Bay via a short walkway through bush, and walked back to Okahu Bay and on to Kelly’s Café for a welcome cuppa - like all upmarket cafés the food was rather dear, but the $2-50 coffees were bottomless. Kelly’s Café made a very nice place to rest and socialise at the end of the tramp, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. Paul made an unexpected surprise by showing up and joining us - he had been visiting his sister in Mission Bay. It was discovered Diana was having a birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday - and a waiter appeared and gave her a piece of cake. A five-minute walk afterwards brought us back to the cars. COST: $1 |
