A group of 40 did the new walkway from the Highbury shops in Birkenhead through Le Roys Bush to Little Shoal Bay, and returning the same route. We gathered outside the Birkenhead Library at 2pm and after the intros and karakia we set off. As we entered Le Roys Bush we had to spray the soles of our shoes to prevent the kauri dieback disease from spreading.

We went down several flights of steps with handrails and boardwalks into the native bush reserve and continued down the valley with its wetlands to come out to Little Shoal Bay, arriving at  2:45pm. We could look across the Waitemata Harbour to the city central and the coat hanger, and as we took our break sitting beside the beach a couple of us shared some afternoon tea with some seagulls and blackbacked gulls.

Brian gave an interesting talk about the history of the area, the beach taking its original name of Gasworks Beach being the site of gas works in the 1940s, the first Maoris settling in the 1790s, the land being sold off to Europeans after Auckland was established in 1840, the naming of Birkenhead Highbury and Birkdale from subdivisions in the 1920s, the building of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, and expansion of housing as a result of this.   Eileen shared devotions about the Book of Ruth and the festival of Shavuot, which today is Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Through the death and blood of Jesus we are made royalty in God's kingdom. We left at 3:30pm to return to our starting point. The first ones finished about 4pm, but many of the group were held up by one of the ladies slipping over and requiring first aid.