Thomas Hunter Crosbie was born in Scotland in 1840, immigrated to NZ in 1863 and he bought the land in 1880. Mackay, the Commissioner for Hauraki, had been buying land for the Crown by Raihana where by Maori owners obtained credit and then the Crown would ask for land to settle the debt.  The Waikawau block was obtained in this way and it is subject to a Waitangi Tribunal claim. The land was farmed from 1880 until 1970 and finally vacated. The Waikawau block is now part of the Coromandel Forest Park. Saturday Nine keen trampers departed from the Bracken at 7-30am on Saturday and travelled to Elizabeth's home at Tararu Retirement village in Thames where we were met by our good friend Peter Lloyd who has assisted us before as a driver and even accommodated a large group in his home on a Friday night when a bigger tramp had been our goal. Warren and Willy from the local church were our other drivers delivering us to the summit of the Tapu Coroglen Rd and returning our cars to Elizabeth’s. DOC recommended our route but members found the track to involve more uphill than expected and we took five hours to reach the clearing. Another wonderful meal planned by Val enthused people. Our lantern didn’t have a mantle and so the games evening did not proceed and we went to bed at 6-30pm!

Sunday Mothers Day on Sunday had an unexpected start when the usual cup of tea service did not occur and the Mothers were shouting Today of all days. The hapless servant had his hands full with two billies and he was meandering around for a clear route which would not spill water. A visit to the memorial to Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen 8/9 April 1989 was the venue for our devotions. The Prophet Joel’s message about waste was considered as the waste of the failed farm venture and the loss of life of our young visitors was apparent. However God has offered spiritual deliverance and restoration to His people. We rejoiced as we walked for about five hours on the direct Waiotahi route to Elizabeth’s home in Thames where we were welcomed with afternoon tea.