Twelve trampers took the opportunity to do a trip that had been scheduled for earlier in the year but
was cancelled because of the rain. This time there was a short period of rain about lunchtime, but once
away from The Bracken about 1:45pm heading towards Orewa the rain eased off and we enjoyed mild cloudy
weather for the Millennium Walkway which circumnavigates the suburb and returns the whole length of Orewa
Beach.
We set off from the KFC carpark near the Orewa estuary bridge about 2:15pm and followed
the concrete path along the edge of the estuary. It was about half-tide, so the water was not right up
to the edge of the mangroves.
The walkway came out on to Riverside Road after passing the Centrestage
drama theatre. We followed this road a short way before going through the tiny Grant Reserve and out
onto Centreway Road then onto the access road for the motorway to Silverdale and central Auckland.
From there we followed a gravel path that climbed over a small hill and dropped down to the Puriri Park
motor camp near a lovely little pond where a peacock welcomed us.
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The track carried on past the camp office and across the Nukumea Stream and into the bush of the
Alice Eaves Reserve. And what lovely bush it was - dominantly nikau palms, and we could hear the sounds
of native birds as we walked. A hollowed out tree had a hole cut into it for people to put their heads
through for a photograph - one of us likened it to a bus stop with a peephole to watch for the bus coming!
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We left the walkway to climb up boardwalk steps to the Kauri Lookout - the forest was now more predominantly
kauri - where we could see the northern end of Orewa Beach.
We carried on to come out on Hillcrest
Road at the reserve’s northern boundary. We admired the lovely spring flowers in resident’s road frontages
before roadbashing down to the noirthern end of Orewa Beach.
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The walk along the length of Orewa Beach was very pleasant - some of us paddled in the water on the
way. We came out about 5pm having enjoyed a lovely and varied walk.
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