A glorious sunny “day out of the box” brought out 24 people to walk the coast from Pakiri to Goat Island then overland to Leigh, an exact repeat of a trip the Club did six years before with almost as many people, including six on the present trip. 11 people left The Bracken, and 9 from Windsor Park Baptist Church on the North Shore, at 8am and met up with three more at the starting point, the carpark at the end of Pakiri River Rd. It was just after 10am by the time everyone arrived, and three cars were taken to Leigh, the finish point of the tramp, with the drivers returning in one car, and after the usual introductions and prayer, we were on our way. We walked out through the sand dunes to the white sands of Pakiri Beach, making fast progress as we headed 2km southeast along the beach to the start of the rocky foreshore. Our travel became slower as we carried on along the rocks. The going was straightforward, maybe a slight scramble here and there, but nothing really tricky. In one place we saw a lovely little waterfall. We rounded Okakari Point, the start of New Zealand’s first marine reserve and reached Te Rere Bay about 11:45am, a lovely spot for an early lunch. As we were having lunch, a blue bush shirt came into view - Nelson had missed his pick-up from a friend’s home in Orewa and drove himself to Pakiri to catch up with us. Earlier that week, Brian Tamaki who heads the Destiny Church, had organised a controversial protest march in Wellington against the Civil Union Bill, and Rosemary told us that someone had to stand up and say “enough is enough”, and Brian had the boldness as a committed Christian to take this stand. The Bible passage Matthew 24 foretells that there will be an increase in wickedness, and those who stand up for righteousness will be persecuted. The true Christian does not conform but is to stand up and be the salt and the light. Rosemary then referred to a recent Word For Today devotions about loving your enemies (25 August 2004, based on 1 Corinthians 13:8) where Abraham Lincoln as President of the USA appointed a former political enemy as Secretary of War, and gave a hypothetical illustration about a Christian being given a gun and given the opportunity of standing in front of the Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin. Instead of shooting him the Christian said to him The gun is yours; my weapon is love. Our devotional time finished with a brief time of prayer, including praying for a lady who had booked on this tramp but was forced to cancel because of a bad back. As we rounded the eastern headland of Te Rere Bay we could see Goat Island and the buildings of the University of Auckland Marine Laboratory ahead in the distance. We reached the rocky platform at the far end of Goat Island Bay, below the marine laboratory, at 1:30pm, and spent some time observing the coloured fish swimming in the crystal-clear rock pools of the marine reserve. Afterwards we went up to the laboratory, but were unable to go inside and see what was going on. We then followed the Goat Island Walkway, an walkway following the clifftops east of Goat Island Bay starting with a climb through pasture followed by an undulating course through bush with many muddy patches. We were able to look out to Little Barrier Island with Great Barrier Island behind in the distance. The walkway came to a dead end about two-thirds of the way to Cape Rodney; the landowner apparently does not want a walkway going right through to connect with the Omaha Cove Walkway on the south side of the cape. We retraced our footsteps a short distance before following a fenceline up through university-owned farm land to come out on the Cape Rodney Rd, where we had a view of the Leigh township. A roadbash brought us to a bush track dropping down to join up with the Omaha Cove Walkway. A pleasant level walk along the coastline brought us to a final staircase and the township of Leigh, finishing our tramp about 4:30pm.

While the drivers were taken back to Pakiri to collect their cars, the rest sat on the seats outside the local dairy munching icecreams and throwing the leftovers of their lunch to the sparrows. The drivers also treated themselves to icecreams, and one car load decided to have dinner at a nearby fish-and-chips shop before heading home as the sun set in the western sky, bringing to a close a lovely day out for everyone. COST: $12