Auckland Baptist Tramping Club

The rain promised for the day never came - in fact it had come down overnight, and ten people were able to enjoy a part of the Woodhill Forest the Club had never visited, keeping their raincoats in their bags. We met at the start of Rimmer Rd off SH16 just before Parakai at 9am, and drove to the junction of Rimmer Rd and the private Selwyn Rd in the forest. Junn was the lucky winner of the first of the 5 spot prizes given out that day - he took away a jazz CD by Stan Getz. After the usual introductions and karakia we set out along Selwyn Rd and took a side road to a lookout. This was not really much of a scenic viewpoint, serving more as a base for firefighters to monsoon-bucket their water from a 4m deep pool. We returned to Selwyn Rd and headed south for less than one km, then turned on to a track to our right. This soon came to a junction and we had a quick break and comfort stop. Heather won a pack of four devotionals, which had a note asking that these be disposed of by leaving in a waiting room or common room rather than put out in the rubbish or paper collection. Each magazine had the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, and people are known to be saved by picking up and reading such a devotional. The track carried on and, according to the map, would come out on Mission Rd. But after carrying on over a hill we came to what appeared to be a dead end. Two separate tracks leading into the bush from the clearing looped around immediately and came back out again to the start. We had to abandon our plan and return to the junction, and take the other track instead. This soon came to a marked horse trail, making for a pleasant bush walk through the pine forest. This came back out on Selwyn Rd not far from Mission Rd. Jill added a CD of  “re-recorded” covers of 1960s hits to her music collection. We roadbashed Mission Rd towards the coast, having a quick group-up stop where it intersects Inland Rd. Mission Rd came out to Coast Rd, which we nicknamed Timeless Music Road after a certain radio station that plays 1960s and 1970s songs. A track led through the forest to come out to Muriwai Beach with its black sand believed to have originated from Mt Taranaki. We had our lunch in a gully in the sand dunes behind the beach out of the strong wind. Junn was happy to keep himself amused with a pocket-sized playstation. Brita won a CD-ROM containing Dennis The Menace, Family Circus, Bringing Up Father and other comics.

Linda shared about how God provides our daily needs. She opened the devotions by telling us that He had provided for John who was almost forced to get the bus to Parakai with nobody else booked from The Bracken. One of the group travelling from Mt Albert offered him a ride from his home.  She cited 6 references in the Bible to God’s provision - Abraham provided a sacrificial ram in place of his son Isaac (Genesis 22); He provides purification for our sins (Hebrews); He provides our daily needs (Psalm 111:5)  richly provides for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17) and provides for those in grief (Isaiah 6:31); and He provides water in the deserts and wastelands of our lives so that we can praise Him (Isaiah 43:20). We then thought of what He provided for us today - our bed and wentilillo, our home, the day, our fit bodies, eyes to see, ears to hear, our food, our income, our appreciation of friends ......... We returned to Timeless Music Road and as we headed northeastwards we came across a group of horse riders. We turned into Temu Rd and went through to Inland Rd, which we followed to come out on Rimmer Rd. At a short break on Inland Rd CS was the final prizewinner, taking home a book on the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. The final stretch was a 2km grunt up Rimmer Rd. We were glad to reach the carpark about 3:30pm, having enjoyed an interesting walk with all its features, devotions and prizes.

COST: $9