Auckland Baptist Tramping Club

A cold blustery afternoon did not stop 24 people from exploring Mangere Mountain, one of Auckland’s many extinct volcanic cones. We left The Bracken at 1:30pm and met up with more people at the carpark on the corner of Kiwi Esplanade and Coronation Rd in Mangere Bridge. From there we set off along Woodward Rd and into the Mangere Domain. Another 15 minutes could have brought us to the summit of Mangere Mountain, but it was far more interesting to do a longer walk around the hill before climbing to the top. As we were walking along the main track that gradually climbs while going along the inside of the crater basin, we had a brief stop and Sonia handed out notes she had prepared on Mangere Mountain’s volcanic and Maori history. The track went up to a saddle with views out to the former oxidation ponds and Puketutu Island; it was so cold and blustery one of us brought out his umbrella to shield against the wind. We climbed up the southern ridge of Mangere Mountain to see the remains of the Maori fortifications and the panoramic view of the Mangere area. Returning to the saddle we continued at a low level out of the wind around the western side of the mountain to a sheltered afternoon tea stop just below the main summit. Sonia carried on the theme from last Wednesday’s 1846 homegroup, prayer, for her devotions. She came up with an acronym to guide us as to how to pray - Praise (start with praising God), Repent (any wrong attitudes), Ask (for our needs, and those of others), Yield (to God’s will and what He wants). She then read Psalm 31:1-5, a prayer of trust on God, before saying a prayer along the lines of the acronym. She then commented that the Black and White social evening the previous day was a time of Food, Fellowship and Fun. We then climbed up to the summit trig (one of two trigs on Mangere Mountain) but did not stay long as a shower was heading straight for us, hitting us as we were scrambling back down.

The shower passed over quickly, and we returned to the carpark along Coronation Rd via the Mangere Bridge shops. We were out just before 4pm, and stopped at the Columbus Cafe which was originally the Onehunga Post Office for our usual dose of extra fellowship before heading home. COST: $1-50