Auckland Baptist Tramping Club A lovely early summer afternoon brought out 18 people to walk the coastline of Te Atatu Peninsula. Five people met at The Bracken at 1:30pm and travelled out in one car to Orangihina Reserve at the end of Harbour View Rd. The starting point had at the last minute been moved to the start of the Harbourview Walkway near Te Atatu Rd, allowing us to walk this short section as well as the rest of the coastal walkway to the northern end of the peninsula. We set out at 2:45pm walking a wide path with views of wetlands and the Waitemata Harbour with central Auckland in the distance. 15 minutes later we came to the Orangihina Reserve, then carried on to cross a pond with ducks and goldfish in it. The track continued northwards along the coast, although in one place we had to walk along the beach a short distance. Just before 4pm we arrived at Spinnaker Strand, where Geoff and Rose left us to go home. Five minutes later we arrived at the Takiata Sailing Club for our afternoon tea and devotions. Mark gave a reflection about relationships - our relationship with God and Jesus, a relationship of love. We need to cement our relationships with God especially at this time of the year. We retraced our footsteps to the end of Harbour View Rd, before taking an inland route along the Harbourview Reserve. There was time for a quick look at an old brick house but we were unable to go inside the locked doors. The house was built in 1909 when the main access to Te Atatu was by boat. Our final point of interest was some old gun emplacements dating back to World War II, which had been set up to fight a Japanese invasion that never took place.

We were back at the cars by 5:15pm, having enjoyed a lovely time-out from the pre-Christmas rush.