Auckland Baptist Tramping Club

Fifteen people took the chance to explore a new section of the Te Araroa trail, from Orewa across the Whangaparaoa Peninsula to the Wade River, followed by a boat ride across the river and a return walk to Dacre Cottage on an existing part of the trail. Six people met at The Bracken at 8am and travelled in two cars to meet up with the others at the site of the information centre and former KFC in Orewa. We set out about 9:20am crossing the Orewa River and following the Coastal Walk along the foreshore and turning inland to come to Red Beach. The tide was right in, so we had to take an inland route for the next section of the trail. We walked through Red Beach Reserve and up Marellen Drive to come out on Whangaparaoa Rd. From there we dropped down into Glenelg Cres and through to Duncansby Rd to our elevenses stop at a lookout. We continued on down Vipond Rd and into the D’Oyly Reserve to follow a cycleway the length of the reserve. A climb up Ozone Rd brought us to the very busy Whangaparaoa Rd, requiring quite a bit of patience in crossing it. The long roadbash on Scott Rd and Wade River Rd was really pleasant, lovely homes tucked away in the bush similar to Scenic Drive near Titirangi. There were occasional views down to the Wade River. We arrived at the Wade River just after midday. Boat transport across the river to Stillwater had been arranged with the Stillwater Boating Club originally for 1pm, but as there was going to be a spring low tide they arranged for an earlier departure. We began our lunch as we waited at the Weiti Boating Club. The Wild Bull, a local fishing boat, came at 12:45pm and we boarded for a pleasant ten-minute crossing to the Stillwater wharf. We finished our lunch on the lawn of the Stillwater Boating Club. John read out a poem he had written on the old story of The House With Golden Windows. This was about a little boy who would look out across the valley from his home at about dinner time, and see a house on the other side whose windows had a golden appearance. One day the boy packed some bread for lunch, and set out across the valley. He came to where the house was, but could not see any golden windows. By now it was late afternoon, and he saw a girl come out, and asked her where the house with the golden windows was. The girl led him up a hill and pointed to a house with golden windows in the distance. That house turned out to be the boy’s home he had set out from that morning. The moral is - we need to trust the Weaver, He knows all about us. Also, we must not covet things that others have, but be satisfied with what we have. Barbara concluded the devotions with a karakia. Just before 1:30pm we were on our feet again walking towards the start of the Okura Bush Walkway. The first part of the walkway was along a vehicle track through flat grass land, made almost into a quagmire with the recent winter rains. We walked along a beach before climbing up and over a headland along a formed bush track, arriving at Dacre Cottage about 2:30pm. We had our afternoon tea break, and some of us asked John to read out another poem he had brought along. This was a funny one based on the opening scenes from the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, about how the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert reacted when an empty coke bottle fell out of a noisy bird that doesn’t flap its wings when flying. It was an easy level walk back to Stillwater along the coast. We saw three horses on the broad low-tide beach, two walking and one galloping. As we turned into the entrance of the Wade River the ground became more muddy and sinky. We came out about 3:45pm with shoes overdue for a good cleaning.

There was enough room in the vehicles, including a van, for everyone to be taken back to Orewa where the rest of the cars were left. It was a great day out on a glorious day after a week full of wet wintry weather. COST: $6-50