A cold grey and windy day did not deter twenty-four people from taking a walk through Parnell, a suburb steeped in history as the oldest suburb of Auckland. From The Bracken, where we met at 1:30pm, we drove the short distance to the top of Ayr St just beyond Newmarket. We set off down Ayr St., passing the historic Ewelme Cottage, and into the Ayr St Reserve. The track up through the reserve to Brighton Rd is a pleasant gentle ascent through bush up a gully.

At the top of Brighton Rd, opposite Neligan House, home of the Anglican Church Trust Board, we turned into St Stephens Ave. We were able to see The Deanery, once the home of Bishop Selwyn built in 1857. After passing a red brick house that once belonged to a mayor, we went into Gladstone Rd and on to the Parnell Rose Gardens, or Dove Myer Robinson Park. A light shower passed over, forcing us to take shelter in the gardens. There were groups of people taking part in a rose pruning day. Being the middle of winter, only a few roses were in flower, and that is the time of the year to prune roses back before their fast spring growth. Once the shower was over, we dropped down to the Judges Bay foreshore - the tide was out - then up around the clifftops, with a break to look out across to the ports and Devonport and white-capped seas.

After an icecream stop in Gladstone Road almost opposite the rose gardens we walked into Alberon Reserve. A boardwalk took us through a glade with various types of palm trees, then we crossed the main grass body of the reserve and up on to St Georges Bay Rd. In one garden on our way up to the top of Parnell Rd was a bird of paradise in flower - very unusual for this time of the year! Our last port of call was the Holy Trinity Cathedral. This huge church is open to the public most of the time, and we were able to wander in and have a look at the huge auditorium. A choir dressed in red gowns was practising for the evening service - choirs are an important part of traditional Anglican church services.