A surprise of sunshine after a cold miserable Saturday brought out 27 people, wrapped in trousers, windjackets and hats against the under-ten-degree cold, to explore the coastal walks of the Weymouth peninsula west of Manurewa, another first for the Club for a Sunday afternoon trip. We set out from the end of Burundi Ave about 2:45pm, after three cars were left at the finish point to ferry drivers back afterwards, to follow the clifftop reserves to the Pitt Ave carpark. There were views out the Manukau Harbour, at near high tide, with the end of the Puhinui peninsula in the foreground. From Pitt Ave we climbed up on to continue along the clifftop reserve to come out at the end of Palmers Rd. The section from Palmers Rd to Weymouth Domain was along a concrete footpath over fields of grass. We stopped to group up beside the rugby fields of Weymouth Domain before dropping down to follow the sandy shores of Shallow Water Beach. One member of the group told us how, as a little boy in the early 1950s, he would come out with his mum and dad, plus brother, sister and grandparents, for family picnics at this place in the summer holidays. Travelling out in the family Ford V8 sedan from Mt Eden to then-rural Weymouth was considered a big day trip in the days before the motorways were built. Today, Weymouth is best known for the children’s jail in the centre of the suburb. We came to Keith Park, a pleasant picnic spot on a warm day (not a chilly July afternoon) looking out across the Papakura Channel to the farmlands of Karaka.

A short walk brought us to tramp’s end at the icecream shop and cafe at Beihlers Rd, arriving just before 4pm. We all enjoyed sitting down to icecreams and coffee before the drivers were ferried back to pick up their cars for home, bringing to a finish an enjoyable sunny winter’s afternoon.

COST: $4