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A glorious hot summer afternoon brought out as many as 29 people to explore part of the Shakespear Regional
Park at the end of Whangaparaoa Peninsula. To give more time up there we left The Bracken at 1pm, half
an hour earlier than usual.
As we entered Shakespear Regional Park we drove through a new pest-proof
fence built to make the park an open wildlife sanctuary as an extension of the existing sanctuary at
the nearby Tiritiri Matangi Island. This would allow native birds such as tuis and bellbirds to travel
continually between these two places.
After the usual intros and karakia we set out 2:30pm from
Te Haruhi Bay, climbing up the Lookout Track to take in the views from the viewing platform on the park’s
summit. We could see Auckland city to the south, Tiritiri Matangi Island and the Coromandel Peninsula
to the east, Kawau Island and the Mahurangi area to the north, and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula to the
west.
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We continued along Tiritiri Track, following a farm track before going through a bush-clad valley
to come out overlooking the eastern coastline. As we entered the bush we sprayed our shoes with a disinfectant
kept at the gate as a measure to prevent kauri dieback. From there we went over the paddocks to finish
back at Te Haruhi Bay carpark at 4pm, ready for a welcome swim in the beach at high tide and calm conditions.
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Nine of us stayed back to enjoy a BBQ picnic at the carpark. Because the park’s barbies were expensive
to hire, we used frypans over a small portable gas burner. We sat down to the meal at 5:30pm, and 45
minutes later Eileen read a devotions from The Word for Today about hope. Hoping in God is to trust Him
to meet every need of ours.
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