Auckland Baptist Tramping Club

Brilliant sunshine after a cold and wet Saturday brought out 27 people to explore two native bush reserves at Albany. One car load left The Bracken at 1:30pm to meet up with the others at the Albany Scenic Reserve at the end of Gills Rd at 2pm. In our group was Hugh and Di Willis who, in their mid-seventies, have been creating and developing walking tracks in these two reserves as well as some others near Torbay. After the usual intros and karakia we set off into the bush on a steady downhill. After five minutes we stopped for Hugh to tell us that the track was originally a straight line through the reserve. He said that he had been improving the track, laying shingle and making some small zigzags to make the going easier. We continued down to cross a stream and climb up to a more open section where we had views of the bush reserve and the valley below. The track continued down another gully, and when we reached the bottom some of us huddled a large kauri tree. From there it was a climb up to the end of the track on Wright Rd, where we came out at 3pm.. We decided to return the way we came because we would get a different perspective of the track. There were a few long planks of wood and some plastic buckets to be taken down to the bottom, so some of us did this task as we headed back. When we came to the open section of track, we had our afternoon tea break. Brita shared from Psalm 139 how we are wonderfully made, the parts of our bodies coming together - eyes to see the beauty, noses to smell the freshness of the bush, ears to enjoy the music of the birds, and so on. On a bush walk we enjoy one another’s company, talking face-to-face, supporting one another, making sure nobody is left behind. We live in a competitive world, and we need to show kindness and compassion, as Naomi and Ruth did in the Bible. The natural disasters that occurred recently, including the tsunami at Samoa, stirred people to show acts of kindness to the victims. Brita concluded the devotions with the challenge of showing acts of kindness to those we find difficult to get along with as we do to our friends. It was 3:50pm when we returned to the carpark.  Quite a few of us left at this point to go home for evening church services, while the rest of us drove to Carol Lee Place for the our second bush walk in Gills Reserve. There was a crashed or vandalised car covered by a tarpaulin at the carpark. This was a new track that went around in a loop, dropping down to the Gills Road access before climbing up to the Albany Trig. Hugh pointed out some trees that he was “growing” - keeping an eye on the tree to ensure it is allowed to grow without being choked out by other vegetation.

We came out at 5pm, completing two lovely but different bush walks. COST: $3