The first day tramp for the Club this year had been done several times before, but this was probably
the first time the Whatipu to Pararaha Valley and return trip was done with the level beach section before
the hilly section instead of getting the hills out of the way first.
We drove to the carpark
at the end of the Whatipu road - just before reaching that we stopped to look at a car that had apparently
been stolen and deliberately ran off the side of the road before being stripped of its stereo. We tried
to report this right away but the cellphone was out of range, even at Whatipu itself. Apparently someone
else reported it because it was not there when we went home after the tramp.
At the carpark we
met up with Phillip and Chris, and after the introductions and prayer our leader Lin had a surprise -
because Roger, the editor of the Club newsletter Fire and Cloud, with his clever use of alliterations
had called this trip Whatipu Whistler, Lin had decided to buy a dozen toy whistles from the $2 shop and
give one to everybody!
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Thus we began to whistle our way out to the beach near Paratutae Rock, a five minute walk through
the sand flats. We carried on along the beach past Ninepin Rock, a favourite fishing spot, then gradually
turned northwards. On the firm sand near the surf, heaps of bluebottle jellyfish plus a few ordinary
jellyfish had washed up.
After an hour or so, Major pulled out of the trip due to a sore ankle,
the result of an injury suffered on a trip before Christmas, and returned to Whatipu and siestaed most
of the time.
A couple of hours after we set out we made a stop on the beach just before the start
of the Pararaha Stream. Lin, Carole, John and Stephen cooled off in the surf - fortunately there were
hardly any bluebottle jellyfish washed up here, meaning we wouldn’t have to watch out for them in the
water.
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We then followed the Pararaha Stream across the broad sand-dune flats, paddling through shallow ponds
and walking over dunes, to come to the inner edge of the dune belt at the entrance to Pararaha Valley.
From there it was a ten minute walk to the Les Ward Shelter, our lunch stop. Unfortunately it was only
a short stop as some of us wanted to hurry back to get ready for the Starlight Symphony concert in the
domain that evening, and with lunches not completely finished we started the grunt up Muir Track to join
up with Gibbons Track on the ridge.
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It was 2pm when we started the final stretch back to Whatipu along Gibbons Track; the signpost at
the junction said it would take two hours, but John and Christine who were up front got out at 3pm, with
the last ones just 45 minutes later! Gibbons Track was a very pleasant level bush track with views later
on of the broad sand and wetland belt below, and a view over the entrance to the Manukau Harbour as we
dropped down to Whatipu.
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That evening Christine organised a group to go to the Starlight Symphony concert - this included
Don, John, Lin, Joy plus Barbara and three others not on the trip. In the tradition of the Club and because
of parking problems, this would be an extra tramping trip - an easy half-hour walk from Christine’s home
in north Mt Eden to the Auckland Domain via Normanby and Boston Rds.
We had a potluck picnic
tea in a possy about three-quarters of the way back from the stage. The music began at 7:30pm and was
predominantly classical - the first half included Sabre Dance, Oh My Beloved Daddy, The Anvil Chorus
(using a real anvil in the orchestra), Wieniawski’s Polonaise, Also Sprach Zarathustra (deliberately
chosen for the year - 2001), Au Fond Du Temple Saint and part of the Verdi Requiem.
After
the 20-minute interval we were treated to a selection from the forthcoming Sky City production of Hair,
including the title song, Good Morning Starshine and Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In. This was followed
by Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and Take Five. True classical music returned with the Waltz from
Shostakovitch’s Jazz Suite no. 2, a selection from The Nutcracker (March, Russian Dance, Dance
of the Sugar Plum Fairy - with a girl doing a fairy dance on the roof of the stage - and Waltz of
the Flowers), and two excerpts from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem - Pie Jesu featuring a girl soprano,
and Hosanna featuring the green Mercury Energy Laser Lights. Jerusalem had most of us on our feet,
followed by Pomp and Circumstance (Land of Hope and Glory) with the waving of lightsticks and the flag.
The climax of the whole concert was the perennial 1812 Overture with everything - orchestra, massed
choir (including mayor Christine Fletcher and her husband), the laser lights, fireworks and a battery
of cannon provided by the New Zealand Army. We remained standing for God Defend New Zealand, and began
to move off to the strains of the perennial closing song Now Is The Hour for our nightwalk this time
over Mountain Rd past Auckland Grammar School and along Clive and Normanby Rds to the cars left at Christine’s
home.
COST: $6
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