For its April activity ABTC 1846 homegroup organised an afternoon tramp to the Fairy Falls in the Waitakere
Ranges, always a popular Club trip with 32 people including a number of children showing up this time.
We left The Bracken at 1:30pm, the normal time for Sunday afternoon walks, and drove out to the
Fairy Falls carpark on Scenic Drive. It was about 2:30pm when we set out along the well-formed metalled
track through bush to the falls, taking about one hour.
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The Fairy Falls consists of a series of spectacular cascades, a great place to admire from the wooden
staircases or from the rocky poolside.
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The lowest of these falls was the largest one, time for a brief break before carrying on our way.
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The track crossed the stream a couple of times, then crossed a spur to a small stream. Recent bad
weather had eroded part of the track in one place, and we had the choice of dropping into the stream
itself or chancing it on the slippery-looking track with no handholds and a surface so hard a leki pole
could not dig into it.
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From there it was a steady climb with occasional views towards Henderson Valley and Auckland city
to come out on Mountain Rd.
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After a short rest at the Mountain Rd carpark we followed the Old Coach Road, carrying on steadily
uphill on a wide track to cross a driveway then level out. A ferocious and hungry dog was barking on
an adjoining private property, but we were glad to see a wire netting fence alongside the track.
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We came out at the end of a short side road, and as we waited for the group to come together again,
one of us rested on the ground for a few minutes, using her pack as a wentilillo.
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We continued through bush to come out on Scenic Drive, then back into the bush for the final five
minutes. We were finished about 5:20pm, and we drove back into Auckland to enjoy a pot-luck dinner at
Carole’s home in Onehunga, followed by slides of Lynley’s recent visit to Israel.
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