A fine and balmy early spring day brought out 40 people to walk the coastal track around the eastern side of Te Atatu Peninsula. We set out from the end of Chapman Rd at 2:05pm and followed the level path with scenic views of the foreshore and wetland. An hour later we came to the Harbourview Beach Reserve where we could look out across the Waitemeta Harbour to central Auckland city on the horizon. We had our afternoon tea break at a shelter over a pond. Barbara told us about a forthcoming training day two weeks away, then Geoff shared devotions about the Great Goal in Philippians 3. Although the principle of looking ahead to your goal instead of looking back is used in counselling and similar situations, Apostle Paul's great life goal or quest is to know Jesus Christ and become more like Him. Each one of us, God's children, are predestined to be made like Jesus, so this quest applies to us all. Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28 rest for those of us who are weary who come to Him. Tina did a great job in translating into Mandarin so that the Chinese people in our group could understand Barbara’s announcement and enjoy Geoff’s devotions.

We returned the same way back to Chapman Rd arriving about 4:15pm, bringing to a finish an enjoyable day to kick off spring. DISTANCE: 8.0km AVERAGE SPEED: 4.4km/h MAXIMUM SPEED: 12km/h COST: travel from The Bracken $3-50