Auckland Baptist Tramping Club 2003

Eight people braved a typical Auckland wintry afternoon of cold strong southwesterly winds and passing showers on the first day of daylight saving to explore three new reserves in the Swanson-Ranui area. Two left The Bracken at 1:30pm to meet up with the others at Ranui Baptist Church at 2pm. We set off along Swanson Rd to the start of Waimoko Track that runs long the Urlich Esplanade reserve following the Waimoko Track. This was a pleasant track recently built by community workers going through grass with tall trees and the stream to the left. The track finished at Arodella Cres and we roadbashed to the Hamblyn Reserve, a small but pleasant area of unmown grass that was a little slushy in places. We came out to follow Luanda Drive to Swanson Rd and the second of the three reserves, the Ranui Pond, part of Ranui Domain. This pond had been built to catch sediment from streams and clean the water and form a wildlife habitat. There are similar types of man-made ponds throughout Auckland, including Unsworth, Ellerslie, the grounds of Unitec and the Paremuka Lakes which we would be coming up to. The path continued through the rest of Ranui Domain, then we roadbashed across the railway line and through to the Paremuka Lakes, following the track alongside the railway line to our afternoon tea spot overlooking the main lake.

On the way back we had a look at a sculpture of a man holding an eel, representing the replenishing of eels and other wildlife to the lakes.

We icecreamacised about 4:15pm at a dairy just before tramp’s end back at Ranui Baptist Church, bringing to a close an interesting walk - and the blustery weather did not dampen our spirits! COST: $3 travel from The Bracken