Auckland Baptist Tramping Club 2006

A total of 30 people, including some from Pathways Christian tramping club in Hamilton, turned up to walk the scenic tracks between Matiatia and Oneroa on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. We met at the ferry terminal in downtown Auckland ready for the 9am Fullers ferry, which picked up a few more people at Devonport on the way. And we were pleased to see our own ANZAC warship Te Kaha, proudly owned by every single NZ taxpayer, as we passed the Devonport naval base. We set out from the ferry terminal at Matiatia about 9:45am. Our intention was to take the headland track around the coast to Owhanake Bay, but with the tide right in we found we could not access this track. So we had to follow a track climbing up from the Ostend road to the ridgetops. This came out on Delamore Drive near a trig. We stopped to take in the panoramic view of Waiheke and the Hauraki Gulf. From there we dropped down another track to Owhanake Bay, to follow the access road on the far side of the bay, going through a gate locked to vehicles. Just past the gate we went on a track leading to Island Bay, a nice little bay ideal for our elevenses stop. The track then climbed to follow the clifftops to a side track leading to a lookout point, where we could look back to Island Bay and on to W Bay, also known as Fossil Bay. Returning to the main track, we saw a few “sculptures” made from common objects such as a doll’s pram and a baby’s bathtub. The track continued through a vineyard run by the University of Auckland for the study of wine science. We came out to Fossil Bay Rd and roadbashed a short distance to drop down to Oneroa Beach. About halfway along the beach we had our lunch, inviting the sparrows and seagulls to join in with some scraps. We then adjourned to a cafe in the Oneroa village. One little girl, not part of our group, tried to catch some sparrows that were dining on the remains of a piece of cake left by a previous customer. Two of our group thought it was 17 March with their choice of ice cream colours to match their shirts! Back on our feet again we roadbashed to Church Bay Rd to enjoy views of the western side of the island.

A final descent through bush brought us to Matiatia, whose carpark looked like a collection of dinky toys from the top of the hill. We were out in time to catch the 3pm ferry home; a handful chose to cafe at a nearby latte clinic and go home on the next boat an hour later, concluding a lovely day of easy tramping and socialising.